Mom's Got Money

CHAPTER 10The Art and Joy of Giving

I'd just walked into a coffee shop to sit down and get some writing done (I know; coffee shops are a common theme in this book). And, while I was waiting for my order, something weird happened.

I was overwhelmed with a feeling: Buy coffee for the girl behind you.

Instantly, I thought nope, not going to do it. Look, I'm happy to buy someone coffee in the drive‐through during the holidays or make an anonymous donation. In person, though? No, thanks. Too awkward.

Buy her the coffee. The feeling seemed to come from outside me, and it was a bit alarming. As a self‐employed writer, I've spent thousands of hours doing my work in coffee shops, and not once did I ever feel like I should buy a stranger coffee in person. (It goes against the introvert code.)

So nope, I'm not doing it, I thought.

But then the girl stepped up to the register to pay and my mouth, seemingly without my consent, said, “Oh, I'll get hers too.” I handed my card over before she could take hers out. I could feel my heart pounding as I looked over and smiled at her.

“Wow,” she said, “Thank you.” And, after a brief pause, she seemed to weigh her options and decided to add, “I've actually just had the worst morning of my entire life. I didn't think nice people existed in the world anymore.”

And with that, she collected her coffee, turned around, and left.

That same day, when I opened my computer to work, I had an unexpected work opportunity arrive in my inbox after weeks of failing ...