900 In A Row Paid It Forward At A Dairy Queen In Minnesota

BRAINERD, MN — The "pay it forward" concept has been an occasional practice at drive-thru restaurants and coffee shops across the country in recent years. Someone will pay for the order of the person behind them in line, and sometimes that person will pay for the person behind them, and so on.

At the Dairy Queen in Brainerd last week, that practice went on for days. Two-and-a-half days, involving about 900 cars and more than $10,000 in sales, according to a report from KARE-11, the NBC affiliate in Minneapolis.

Tina Jensen, the store manager of the Dairy Queen on C Street Northeast, told the news station a man paid for the car behind him on Dec. 3. What followed has been described as a "chain of kindness" that didn't end until late in the day on Dec. 5.

"Our fans were so excited," Jensen told KARE-11. "They didn't want to break the chain. They wanted to keep that chain going."

At the end of the first night, someone even made a donation to pay for the first car in line the next day. The word in Brainerd spread quickly, and the line kept growing.

It was a spark of good karma near the end of a year that has been tough on so many.

"No matter what hard times anyone is going through, just take care of each other, you know, that's what it is … take care of each other," Jensen said.

Read more via KARE-11