Wisconsin McDonald’s Drive Thru Breaks a ‘Pay It Forward’ Record

A joy-filled life comes one little moment at a time, not by waiting for just the big moments. Lots of small moments have the power to change lives, not just a day.

That was some great advice that my much younger self was given. Don't spend your life waiting to experience just the big, blow-you-away experiences, because you never know how long it will take for another big moment like that to arrive.

Every day, small joys can appear around any corner, and in this small Wisconsin town, it can and will happen in the McDonald's drive-thru.

Get our free mobile app

Union Grove, Wisconsin McDonald's Break 'Pay It Forward' Record

Random acts of kindness have the power to change lives in some pretty unimaginable ways. In the 2000 film, Pay It Forward, Haley Joel Osment changed the world by doing something kind for 3 people and then encouraging them to do the same. Whether you've seen the film or not, you can see how those gestures of kindness can have an impact way beyond the first act in the chain.

It just takes that one person to get it started by saying something as simple as, "hey, I'd like to pay for the person's order behind me." And that is just how it started at this McDonald's, according to the Racine's Journal Times.

Random Acts of Kindness

The first person made the offer and the offers kept moving forward for 23 cars. The previous record at this location was 15. Those numbers may not seem very big, but when you look at them a little differently, like how many people were and will be involved in this one event.

All of those people in those vehicles...

all the McDonald's employees...

every person all of these people encounter...

everyone who sees this story...

You see where I'm going, don't you? It's possible that the next random act of kindness you experience, may not be so random, it could come from someone connected to this Union Grove McDonald's.

One more thing that furthers my belief in the idea that NOTHING happens by coincidence or accident. I'm writing this story on Thursday, October 20, 2022, the film Pay It Forward opened in theaters on October 20, 2000, twenty-two years ago, today.

This is a definite God wink.