Pay It Forward

Although I read the Union Tribune almost daily in an attempt to be aware of what's going on in this crazy world, I try to watch the news on television as infrequently as possible. There is major truth to the saying 'Ignorance is Bliss', because watching the massively disappointing and depressing stories Channel 5 reports each night makes it almost impossible for me to fall asleep.

On the 11:00 news last night, there was a story about a pregnant young woman who was victim to a fatal hit and run. A few good Samaritans stopped on the side of the freeway after the accident in an attempt to pull her from the wreckage, even though it was too late. In the midst of this hustle, another car pulled up to the accident ... and swiped the victim's purse, which was laying a few feet away from the mangled car. Seriously, is this what our society has come to?! Stealing this woman's belongings from the car accident that would eventually claim her and her unborn child's life? Now, not only were police looking for the idiot that hit her and ran, but also for the morally repugnant asshole who thought it appropriate to steal from her. I went to sleep last night severely disgusted and woke up this morning, still disgruntled.

Running late, I waited in the Starbucks drive-thru this morning for my coffee. After what seemed like forever, the stress from facing impending traffic on the 8 combined with the anger from last night's news made me snap at the barista when I finally reached the window. She handed me my double-tall-nonfat-whatever and instead of telling me my total, she asked if I would like to 'pay it forward'. Pay it forward? Uh, like the movie? I was confused. Yes, like the movie/ sociological phenomenon … she had asked the first person who came for coffee this morning if they would like to pay it forward by buying the next customers drink and so on. For each El Cajon & 68th Starbucks patron that went through the drive-thru this morning, your coffee was already paid for. Instead of hearing your total at the window, you got your beverage for free and were asked to pay it forward. I was the twentieth person to reach the window ... and I did pay it forward. I drove to work with a warm, fuzzy feeling and hardly even noticed the traffic or that I was late.

After going to bed irate and waking up this morning in a similar state of mind, that barista (and every coffee drinker, before and after me, that 'paid it forward') somewhat restored my hope in humanity. We, as a society, are capable of doing the most terrible and disgusting things imaginable ... but that isn't all we are capable of. We have the ability to love. We have the sense to be patient, compassionate and understanding. We have the resources to help those around us, even if we don't get anything in return. You may think that your actions (good and bad) are miniscule and unimportant, but they most certainly are not! You can light the match that ignites the fire of change by doing something small each day to make this world a better place. Hit and runs will happen, so let's counteract the tragedy trend by going the extra mile as much as possible. Please - pay it forward, whether than means stopping at a car accident to try and save someone's life or simply buying a $2 cup of coffee for your fellow man.

UPDATE: via San Diego Union Tribune

2:00 a.m. January 7, 2009

A Carlsbad man was arrested yesterday on suspicion of stealing the purse of a pregnant woman who was killed early Sunday in a crash on Interstate 5, the California Highway Patrol said. CHP investigators arrested Mark Christopher Struk, 31, at his home about 3 p.m., Officer Mark Latulippe said. Struk was booked into jail on suspicion of felony grand theft. He and a female passenger, who has not been arrested, are suspected of slowing down along I-5 and grabbing a purse that had fallen out from an overturned Ford Explorer. The purse belonged to Yine Erandy Gonzalez Angeles, 24, of Tijuana, a passenger in the Explorer who died at a hospital. Gonzalez was six months pregnant, and the child also died. The CHP say John Francis Sudac Jr., 27, of Carlsbad was speeding and changing lanes on I-5 in Solana Beach about 1 a.m. when his Nissan Altima hit the Explorer, causing the SUV to roll. Moments after the crash, a station wagon passed by slowly and a female passenger snatched Gonzalez's purse. Latulippe said witnesses noted the license plate number of the wagon. A woman with Struk when he was arrested was questioned, but investigators determined she was not the passenger involved in the theft, Latulippe said. The purse has not been recovered. Sudac is to be arraigned Monday in Vista Superior Court. –M.R. and P.R.