Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for May 21, 2023

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    BE THIS GUY  over 1 year ago

    Had to happen sooner or later, even if it’s the last customer of the day.

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    Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus Premium Member over 1 year ago

    The so-called suspended coffee : pay a coffee for a person who cannot afford it, is a very civilized practice in the Italian city of Naples.

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    ronaldspence  over 1 year ago

    i hope his karma is run over by his dogma!

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    BasilBruce  over 1 year ago

    I’d have thought he’d say, “In that case, give me the Super-Mega-Grande.”

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    Bilan  over 1 year ago

    When I’m the first one in the bar, I order drinks for everyone.

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    I need a burrito  over 1 year ago

    Nice goin rat

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    iggyman  over 1 year ago

    Rat did not disappoint us !

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    iggyman  over 1 year ago

    This pay ahead is nice, it happened to me and my daughter at McD’s a while ago!

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    RCKJD  over 1 year ago

    While the paying it forward might be nice, it has to stop somewhere, or you might be the poor bloke who only wants a cheeseburger, fries and a coke but you are now obligated by peer pressure to pay for the family of 6 in the minivan behind you.

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    einarbt  over 1 year ago

    Took Rat to break this vicious cycle.

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    Count Olaf Premium Member over 1 year ago

    Rat saved four bucks and Pig spent eight. Love it. Karma is a Witch, Pig.

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    Packratjohn Premium Member over 1 year ago

    One night recently we decided to hit a drive-through for a late snack. Imagine our surprise when our order was paid for by the car in front of us. When I asked the fellow at the window, he said they appreciated that I turned my headlights off while waiting in line! (parking lights on) Funny thing is I’ve always done that. It was common courtesy back in the dark ages of my youth. Never thought of it as something special. Thanks, whoever you were.

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    Ellis97  over 1 year ago

    Rat just doesn’t want to pay for anything. I can’t imagine why Pig hasn’t kicked him out.

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    Huckleberry Hiroshima  over 1 year ago

    None of what happened there is “karma.” People misuse that word. Arrgh! I know I know, your karma ran over my dogma. Whatever.

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    aerotica69  over 1 year ago

    Remember chain letters? You copied the letter which included instructions and a list of people, sent $1 to the first person on the list, added your name to the bottom of a list and removed the person who sent you the original, and sent copies to ten friends. When your name got to the top of the list, you would receive millions of dollars in the mail; if you did not follow the instructions, you would have bad luck for years.

    I call this “pay for the person after you” nonsense the Starbucks Chain Letter. And like the paper chain letters of old, it stops at me.

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    Kaputnik  over 1 year ago

    Karma schmarma.

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    LupisLight  over 1 year ago

    As a cashier and McDs, I once had a pay-it-forward chain in the drive-thru last about four links before one guy demanded to know why the hell someone else paid for his coffee, and insisted there had to be some particular reason for it. I was so taken aback, I was unable to communicate with him the concept of kindness, and eventually told him to just ask the person ahead of him if he really wanted to know, because they hadn’t mentioned any specific reason to me.

    Some people…

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    dalemcginnis  over 1 year ago

    I don’t drink coffee, but I’m with rat on this. I think the concept of paying for a random stranger who may have no financial problems ridiculous. Now a person who has a financial need is a whole different matter.

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    RitaGB  over 1 year ago

    At the coffee shops I’ve been to, you pay when you order, which means you have no idea what the next person is going to get. Seems too random for me.

    However, I love the idea of buying a “ticket” to be claimed by someone in need. I’ve read of some restaurants doing the same thing.

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    timinwsac Premium Member over 1 year ago

    What coffee shop has coffee for four bucks?

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    SusieB  over 1 year ago

    Sorry, but I don’t like this practice, especially at the drive through. If the person in back of me has a much larger order, I am breaking the chain.

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    mindjob  over 1 year ago

    When I get low on a Starbucks card, I give the rest of it to the guy in the car behind me

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    Cameron1988 Premium Member over 1 year ago

    LMAO!

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    Goat from PBS  over 1 year ago

    I don’t believe in karma, so that’s a pretty big limit in itself.

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    Zebrastripes  over 1 year ago

    Rats are always rats!

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    MeGoNow Premium Member over 1 year ago

    I would have expected Rat to play the system for a free second coffee by starting the chain and getting back in line.

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    colinmac2  over 1 year ago

    Is there something wrong with me? The first question on my mind in such a situation would be, “How much is the person behind me wanting to spend?” I mean, I’ll give five bucks, but suppose they want a sandwich and a brownie, too?

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    Komix Lover  over 1 year ago

    I think it’s a silly practice. I don’t go to fast foods/drive throughs so it likely won’t happen. If it did, I would say skip me, I’ll pay for my own. I might pick up the tab for some people I know or perhaps are clearly in need. But a random person? No.

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    hoffquotes2  over 1 year ago

    That would be me lol

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    zeexenon  over 1 year ago

    And yet, Social Security is going broke.

    And our government keeps spending money they do not have. But, that’s a subject for another time.

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    christelisbetty  over 1 year ago

    The movie “Pay It Forward” had the absolute worst ending ever ,IMO.

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    WCraft Premium Member over 1 year ago

    Half the voters in Illinois…

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    the lost wizard  over 1 year ago

    The buck stops here. :)

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    dlaemmerhirt999  over 1 year ago

    “HA! FREE COFFFEE, B__CHES!!!” Rat’s a jerk, but we love him.

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    matt2727  over 1 year ago

    BTW, baristas hate the “pay it forward” thing. Makes it more likely to get orders wrong and slows things down. If you’re feeling generous, just leave a bigger tip.

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    Moonkey Premium Member over 1 year ago

    I feel left out. I don’t drink coffee and don’t go to drive through restaurants. I can walk, so I get out and go inside. I know, it sounds weird, but I don’t like drive up windows.

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    drycurt  over 1 year ago

    I wouldn’t just pay for someone who can just as easily pay themselves, but I have taken beggars inside and bought them a meal.

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    TwilightFaze  over 1 year ago

    I’ve seen this practice off and on here in my small town. I’ve yet to meet a Rat be a rat about it, fortunately. But I know they’re out there…

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    Ishka Bibel  over 1 year ago

    Life choices. Help a person in real need or buy coffee for someone who obviously can afford expensive coffee.

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    T...  over 1 year ago

    The true depths of Stephan’s avatar reviled…

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    Chris Sherlock  over 1 year ago

    I’m guessing Rat never pays for anybody.

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    Buoy  over 1 year ago

    Here’s an idea. Why not pay it forward in the comments section with some kindness, instead of the usual vitriol?

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    markmoss1  over 1 year ago

    Karma already got Rat – it’s why he was born a rat.

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    Sisyphos  over 1 year ago

    It takes a rat’s Rat to break this chain-letter of Paying It Forward! Bravo, Objectivist Rat (a follower of that Ayn Rand amoral morality)…

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    DaBump Premium Member over 1 year ago

    You know, though, until somebody just accepts it, it’s kind of pointless, see? I’ve dreamed of having a special kind of theme park, I would call it a Musement park, and I’ve thought one of the features was that people who could afford it could pay double for some VIP treatment, and the extra would mostly go to a free drawing for people who couldn’t afford to come at all.

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    Zanere  over 1 year ago

    had this happen at a burrito joint, told em to put it in their tip jar

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    Ceeg22 Premium Member over 1 year ago

    You can’t pay for the person behind you because you don’t know what they’re going to order

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    Ceeg22 Premium Member over 1 year ago

    You can’t pay for the person behind you because you don’t know what they’re going to order

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