A Woman On TikTok Broke A Starbucks 'Pay It Forward' Streak & Refused To Be 'Shamed' For It

Should you be guilt-tripped into continuing a random act of kindness at Starbucks, or is it better to put your foot down and chose when you want to "pay it forward?"

One TikTok user argues that if you're being forced into doing a kind act, it loses its purpose — and she doesn't care if people disagree.

TikToker @gracejohanna says she deliberately ended a five-car "conga line of morality" while picking up her Starbucks drive-thru order, and many people are applauding her for breaking from the obligation.

"Today I went to the Starbucks drive-thru to get my little drink and sandwich as a hot girl does, and I go to the barista pay, and he goes, 'You don't have to pay me today,'" Johanna said, recalling the interaction.

The Starbucks employee told her that the customer in front of her paid for her drink and sandwich "as a nice gesture."

Johanna initially got excited about the news. "This is an epic day," she recalls thinking to herself. "Today is my best day ever. People are so kind. Wow."

Then the Starbucks employee dropped a "bomb."

"He says, 'Yeah, so for every five people in front of you, they returned the gesture back,'" said Johanna. "So you're telling me that these people were shamed and caught into this conga line of morality that they had to give the gesture back?"

Johanna said she didn't like that the customer in front of her had been pressured into being "kind," and she decided there that she wouldn't let it happen to her.

"That defeats the whole point of someone doing something nice for me. I am the one that was helped, and I am not helping anyone else," argued Johanna. "I'm not that girl. I deserve to have a good day. I deserve this free sandwich, dude. You're not taking this away from me."

People in the comments section were pretty much on Johanna's side, despite the popularity of these "pay it forward" schemes.

One self-identified barista even showed up to say: "I 100% agree w this; sometimes it's important to indulge and appreciate a nice gesture without feeling obligated to pay for anyone else."

Another commenter jokingly wrote, "I gotta put me first," referencing the viral TikTok audio.

Others shared similar experiences, with one person recalling a time the same thing happened to them, but "the order behind [them] was $30, and all [they] ordered was 1 coffee."

"When this happens to me, I say 'aww, thanks, that's so sweet' and ✨drive away✨," commented one user.

Johanna later added in the comments that she's not against random acts of kindness.

"I do nice gestures for people all the time," she wrote. "But in this moment I wanted to enjoy the fact someone did it for me."