this almost cancel's out the societal effects of the (still active) KKK.
Ma’am, Your Burger Has Been Paid For
81–90 of 137 posts
Re: Ma’am, Your Burger Has Been Paid For
#82This is quite pointless because it essentially cancels out. To get a cooperative structure you have to give away surplus -- that is, people with more have to give it to people with less. Yes, redistribution ! That seems a dirty idea in a substantial part of USA politics. So 'pay it forward' chains are a peculiar thing: they summon the feeling of cooperation, in an acceptable way, without actually being effectively co…
This is quite pointless because it essentially cancels out This is ultimately what makes this so bizarre -- in the end such a chain has a single "benefactor", and then a number of what could best be described as victims: People who become a part of this process because of social obligation. Given that the people were already in line and obviously ready to pay for their order, this is unwelcome generosity, and it take…
Which part of society is obligating a person to continue paying it forward? Certainly not the previous customer, who has already driven off. And certainly not the following customer, who (if you don't pay it forward) has no way of knowing that you got your food for free.
In fact other than you, the only person who knows the situation is the cashier, and they certainly aren't expecting meals to continue to be paid forward - the articles on the topic always mention how surprised they are when it happens. And to be honest I don't understand your social compass if being judged by a random restaurant cashier is that big a burden on your conscience.
Re: Ma’am, Your Burger Has Been Paid For
#83I suspect a carefully coordinated PR campaign for Chick-fil-A, as I've noticed uncharacteristically, frequent positive references to them in unrelated news items lately. I consume a lot of news, and noticing "fake" planted positive references in tangentially related articles is par for the course for any company that stepped in deep shit like they did. I suspect at least one of these positive comments here to be a pl…
There are hundreds of stories about various companies on hn. The fact that you single out this one says more about your liberal bias than its objective "fakeness".
He didn't say anything about liberals, conservatives or Chick-fil-a's noxious gay marriage positions. Who's biased?
The article mentions chick-fil-a by name 3 times in the text and at the bottom, it's one of 3 terms that you can sign up for email alerts about. This is right after they had a run of bad publicity (yes, caused by politics, but that's irrelevant). Seems to fit in the PR-created article category to me.
Re: Ma’am, Your Burger Has Been Paid For
#84How about paying for food for the homeless instead?
Someone in a car at a fast food place is probably well off enough to afford the car, maintenance, gas, etc.
Re: Ma’am, Your Burger Has Been Paid For
#85I suspect a carefully coordinated PR campaign for Chick-fil-A, as I've noticed uncharacteristically, frequent positive references to them in unrelated news items lately. I consume a lot of news, and noticing "fake" planted positive references in tangentially related articles is par for the course for any company that stepped in deep shit like they did. I suspect at least one of these positive comments here to be a pl…
I don't know about that, but I do know that the only time I have had a pay-forward experience was at Chick-fil-A. And it was fun!
Re: Ma’am, Your Burger Has Been Paid For
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is quite pointless because it essentially cancels out This is ultimately what makes this so bizarre -- in the end such a chain has a single "benefactor", and then a number of what could best be described as victims: People who become a part of this process because of social obligation. Given that the people were already in line and obviously ready to pay for their order, this is unwelcome generosity, and it take…
Which part of society is obligating a person to continue paying it forward? Certainly not the previous customer, who has already driven off. And certainly not the following customer, who (if you don't pay it forward) has no way of knowing that you got your food for free. In fact other than you, the only person who knows the situation is the cashier, and they certainly aren't expecting meals to continue to be paid for…
And to be honest I don't understand your social compass if being judged by a random restaurant cashier is that big a burden on your conscience.
My moral compass is not dictated by the presence of witnesses. If I'm at a park and no one is there to witness it, I still dispose of trash properly. I pick up after my dog without scurrilously looking around for other people.
One's "moral compass" should be internal, and might also be considered like karma. Most people do things because they believe it is right, not because they are being judged (though there are those people in this world, and they are the ones who dent and run and leave a big doggy steamer cooking in your yard). And in Western society one of the biggest burdens you can drop on someone is the sense of reciprocity.
Re: Ma’am, Your Burger Has Been Paid For
#87Similar story here in the UK. I was paying for my McDonalds at the drive-thru when for whatever reason I looked in my mirror and saw a young girl sat crying in her car looking deeply depressed. I asked if I could pay whatever her meal, did so, picked mine up and looking in the mirror I could see a genuine smile appear. I hope that if I cheered her up for even 2 seconds, she can see whatever happened to make her cry i…
Perhaps she was crying because she was about to have to eat a McDonald's? Seriously, why the fuck would someone education enough to be on HN be eating that fast food crap? If you really want a burger in the UK, go to Byrons.
because I'm in a hurry, and neither have time to cook, nor for a sit down meal.
Re: Ma’am, Your Burger Has Been Paid For
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Perhaps she was crying because she was about to have to eat a McDonald's? Seriously, why the fuck would someone education enough to be on HN be eating that fast food crap? If you really want a burger in the UK, go to Byrons.
That'd be great if all the people in the UK actually lived in the predominately Southern areas Byron has stores.
..and if everyone could afford to pay 2x-4x the price of a McD's. And spend 3x-5x the amount of time sat around in a restaurant instead of grabbing and going.
Yeesh, what a useless comment GP is.
Re: Ma’am, Your Burger Has Been Paid For
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are hundreds of stories about various companies on hn. The fact that you single out this one says more about your liberal bias than its objective "fakeness".
He didn't say anything about liberals, conservatives or Chick-fil-a's noxious gay marriage positions. Who's biased? The article mentions chick-fil-a by name 3 times in the text and at the bottom, it's one of 3 terms that you can sign up for email alerts about. This is right after they had a run of bad publicity (yes, caused by politics, but that's irrelevant). Seems to fit in the PR-created article category to me.
Actually he did refer to how Chick-fil-a "stepped in deep shit".
Re: Ma’am, Your Burger Has Been Paid For
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could we systematise the kindness/happiness effect without ruining it? Kindness by definition isn't kindness if it is not voluntary. I think the best you can hope for are social systems that don't reward cruelty.
What definition? Why not? Unkindness and cruelty still exist if they are built into systems, don't they?
Well, we seem to be talking about kindness in regards to how it makes you feel.
Kindness does not work if it is forced. You can force people to do "kind" things, but that won't make them happy. Likewise, when we have unkindness built into systems, it doesn't necessarily make people feel bad, because they're being forced to do it (or at least, not as bad).