Drive-thrus are such a weird piece of humanity.

You’re sitting in your car, half awake, half hungry, staring at the tail of the vehicle in front of you like it holds the meaning of life. Everyone is in their own world, their own mood, their own day. And every once in a while… something unexpectedly kind happens.

One of my favorite memories happened during a road trip with Breanne and Oaklee. We were already pushing the budget a little harder than we should have been — which is what road trips tend to do. We pulled into a small-town drive-thru for a quick food stop. And then chaos struck.

Out of nowhere, a giant cicada bug flew through the open car window and landed on me. If you’ve never had a cicada unexpectedly land on your body while you’re in a moving vehicle, let me just say… it’s a very humbling experience. All three of us started screaming like the car was on fire. At that exact moment, the drive-thru speaker crackled on.

“Hi, welcome to — what can I get started for you today?”

Meanwhile, inside the car it sounded like a horror movie. Windows down. Arms flailing. Screaming. Laughing. Someone trying to remove a prehistoric bug from my car. It took us a solid minute to recover. When we finally managed to order, we were laughing so hard we could barely get the words out. I’m sure the poor employee working the speaker had absolutely no idea what was happening.

We pulled around to the window to pay. And the cashier smiled and said something that completely caught us off guard. “The car in front of you paid for your order.” Apparently the man in front of us — who we later found out was actually the mayor of the town — had heard the entire cicada incident over the speaker and decided we deserved a free meal.

And I’m not going to lie…

In that moment, when money was tight and we were already feeling like we had overspent on the trip, that small gesture felt really big. It wasn’t just the food. It was the reminder that someone out there heard three people losing their minds over a bug and decided, “You know what… I’m going to make their day a little better.”

I’ve been part of the drive-thru kindness chain probably five times in my life now. You know the one — someone pays for the car behind them, and then that person pays for the next, and it keeps going. I’ve also been the person who randomly pays for someone’s food just because.

What I love about it is the anonymity. No applause. No thank you required. No expectation of anything in return. Just a tiny moment where someone decides to make another person’s day a little easier.

And I’ll be honest… Sometimes I can keep the chain going. And sometimes I can’t. Sometimes I’m the person who says, “That’s amazing, thank you,” and drives away because the budget that day simply doesn’t allow it. And that’s okay too. Because the point isn’t pressure. The point is kindness.

One time I was sitting in a drive-thru and the guy behind me started screaming at me for absolutely no reason. I still have no idea what set him off. Maybe he was having a terrible day. When I got to the window, I paid for his order. Then I grabbed a napkin and wrote a note. “I hope this makes your day a little better and you can be a little nicer.” I asked the cashier to hand it to him with the receipt.

Maybe it softened him. Maybe it didn’t. But I know it softened me. Kindness doesn’t always fix people. But it keeps us from becoming the kind of person we don’t want to be. And the cool thing about drive-thru kindness is that it’s one of the easiest ways in the world to spread it. No speeches. No grand gestures. Just a small moment that might turn someone’s whole day around.

So next time you’re sitting in that long drive-thru line staring at the bumper in front of you… Maybe consider it. Because the world could use a little more of that.

Or at the least, Dude… Don’t Be Rude