TikTok user Jontay Black just found out that you never know who’s watching in the best way possible. He ordered a strawberry lemonade from Starbucks at Raleigh-Durham International Airport and the new barista was having some trouble with his order.
It was “nothing fancy” as Black put it, but she still had a hard time getting his drink right.
“Long story short, they kept messing up the order, and I was just being polite, like, it’s OK, everybody has bad days, because I’ve been having a bad day my damn self,” he told his followers on TikTok.
Black was upset because he got written up at work that day, but he didn’t know that a Starbucks executive was watching the exchange.
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“When they finally got my order right, one of the execs came up and she’s like, ‘I’m an exec from Starbucks and I watched your experience from beginning to end, and you were so polite with our people that I’ve got something for you.’”
Then, she handed him a Starbucks gift card that is good for life! “She gave me a lifetime Starbucks gift card. I just go and swipe it. Swipe and swipe and swipe it, no swipe-back,” he said.
What’s great is that even though Black was having a bad day, he didn’t put it on the Starbucks employee and was able to remain polite as she got his order wrong. Black expected nothing in return but his strawberry lemonade and was given an incredible reward.
“And I had a bad ass day, got a write-up at work. This made it. And my drink’s good,” he said on TikTok. “Shout-out to Starbucks for making my day.”
Although we’re not completely certain of the conditions of his free Starbucks for life card, the company has given out several Starbucks for Life cards through sweepstakes over the past few years. Starbucks for Life cardholders get one free drink or food item every day for 30 years. The catch is that the free item expires at the end of the day, so you can’t bank a bunch of free stuff and make a huge order later. But heck, it sure beats paying $4 for a venti Pike Place every day.
As part of the giveaway, Starbucks also holds the right to discontinue the card and pay the owner its remaining cash value.
The approximate retail value of a Starbucks for Life card is $57,378.
Black’s followers were super jealous of his reward. “It’s hard watching people live your dreams,” Hannah wrote. While others thought that having a Starbucks for Life card makes him a great catch on the dating market. “Baby that is Tinder profile material! ‘Lifetime Starbucks card’ is a resume credential,” Suzanne Ochoa wrote.
“If that’s your way of proposing to me, I’ll break the news to my husband. Brb,” Brittany Miller joked.
Sometimes, when nothing seems to be going right it’s tough to get outside of ourselves and remember to be kind. Black’s decision to be kind regardless of what was happening in his life paid off, even though he had no idea he was going to be rewarded.
He’s a great example of why we should always strive to be kind—you never know who’s watching.