Minn. Drive-Thru Sees 2-Day, $10K Pay-It-Forward Chain

Minnesota nice is real
By Josh Gardner,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 10, 2020 11:41 AM CST
Dairy Queen Customers Pay-It-Forward 900 Times
Dairy Queen pay-it-forward chain lasts for 900 cars   (Dairy Queen via Facebook)

In a tough time for folks everywhere, a ray of holiday light seemed to concentrate on a Minnesota Dairy Queen last week, where one drive-thru customer began a pay-it-forward chain that continued for over 900 cars. Per CNN, it all began when one man offered to pay for the car behind him on Thursday at the fast food stop in Brainerd, north of Minneapolis. It's not a totally unusual occurrence, but restaurant employees told KARE11 they expected the chain to fizzle out after 15 or so cars. But the chain continued until close on Thursday, when the last car in line left $10 to keep it going when the drive-thru opened again.

The chain picked back up Friday. A post on the Dairy Queen's Facebook page expressed employees' shock after just around 50 cars had taken part. "Not sure if its the sun shining, or the Christmas Spirit is already here... But it started with one and we are now at about 48 cars that have paid it forward! Lets keep this caring train going!" The trained continued, but likely far longer than anyone could have anticipated. After around two and a half days, what began as a few bucks and a small act of kindness topped out at $10,000 in sales. "Thank You Fans," the store's Facebook post read when it was all said and done, "for letting as serve you one red spoon at a time! Keep the positivity going, spread the love!" (Read about another shockingly popular drive-thru.)

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