Hi Mountaindewed. That was very kind of the driver to treat you to the coffee, but it is certainly not necessary to pay for anyone else's order. The person treated you to be kind. If expectations are for you to shell out the money for someone else, then that sort of nixes the driver's kindness to you. Don't you think?

If you don't have money to be giving huge tips or paying for others' orders, you can always turn around and simply smile and say good morning to the people behind you. That can be equally, if not even more kind, during a period when there is divisiveness and lack of total unity in society. Perhaps if someone ever pays for your coffee again, and you feel you want to give something similar (money), then maybe tip the barista a couple or few dollars? They are likely underpaid as it is.

A couple days ago, on the bipolar forum, I mentioned how in a local newspaper it was stated that customers should give waiters/waitresses 50% tips, given the coronavirus situation. I found that awfully extreme. I know small businesses and their staff have suffered, financially, because of the coronavirus, but as a former sales/marketing manager at a big company, I know such expectations backfire in the end. People then start avoiding products/services, then ultimately the business suffers because of that. Plus, many of us have also been affected by the pandemic. Going to a restaurant is a frivolous expenditure. Certainly for people on disability it is a stretch. I mentioned that I want to support my local businesses/restaurants, but the 50% expectation left a sour feeling in me. That's not good.

In the US, people recently received coronavirus stimulus checks. Small and large businesses, did as well. Many people also started to receive unemployment in absence of regular wages. This was all meant to help soften the negative effects caused by the pandemic and allow more regular spending. Regular spending. These checks were not from the president's or the law makers' personal bank accounts, believe me. The money was taxpayer money. We are all mostly taxpayers (with some exceptions that are not so fair). To me, a 50% tip is more like private charity. Granted, a lot of poor and struggling people benefit greatly from private charity, especially in absence of adequate public assistance, in many cases. But charity is a personal decision, not one that should be forced.