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Coffee shop customers learn to ‘pay it forward’
Spirit of season isn’t limited to one day a year
By Carol Ann Gregg
Allied News Staff Writer
What would people in Grove City do if challenged with the principles of “Pay It Forward”?
The 2000 film is about a boy who is given an assignment by his sociology teacher to do something to make the world a better place. The story line shows that if each person performed an act of kindness for three people and asked those three people to do something for three more people, the ripple effect would be immense.
At Beans on Broad, formerly the Coffee Grove on South Broad Street, an experiment in keeping with the movie transpired.
Barista Ryan Bibza at the coffee shop found himself in conversation with a regular customer about the movie and their contemplation as to how people would react if they were the recipient of “Pay It Forward.”
“This anonymous customer gave me $10 and I was to tell people as they prepared to pay for their drink or whatever, that it had been paid for,” Bibza said. “We were going to take to heart to see what would happen.”
The customer took a seat where he could watch the counter. So the experiment began.
After people placed their orders and were preparing to pay, Bibza would tell them that someone had already paid for their order.
“I loved watching the expressions on their faces,” he said. Some didn’t want to accept the gift. “I would tell them that it was already paid for.” Some smiled and said thank you. Everyone was encouraged to “Pay It Forward” as they went through their day.
“Some would have their money out and say I’ll pay for the person behind me,” he said. “One college student handed me a $10 for his $3 drink that he received free. That meant we could ‘Pay It Forward’ longer.”
Beginning at about 11 a.m., the original $10 grew to $27; and what could have been a 10-minute to half-hour experiment continued for three and a half hours.
Every person that experienced having their order paid for, left the coffee shop with a smile. “It brightened everybody’s day,” Bibza said. “They left feeling like they had received a gift.”
“I had fun telling them about their gift and seeing their faces. They couldn’t thank the person who gave it to them. They had to ‘Pay it Forward’ as their thank-you.”
“People don’t just come to a coffee shop for the coffee, but for the positive atmosphere,” he said. “When they leave they have a certain energy to carry them through their day.”
Bibza and his customer will never know what additional kindnesses happened in Grove City that day.
The original customer was not identified so that no one who participated in paying it forward would be able to thank him for his kindness. He was repaid multiple times as each customer paid it forward in their own way. Story published Dec. 26, 2009 in Allied News. Pick up a copy at 201A Erie St., Grove City.
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