“Money can’t buy happiness, but what you can do with the money can buy happiness.”

CNN reported a story about a man named “Dave” who offered to pay for strangers’ gas at a Chevron gas station in Portland, Oregon.  His main message and motivation: pay it forward.

This video captures the reactions of some of the drivers when Dave offers to pay for their gas.  They are dumbfounded, sometimes speechless or suspicious, but always grateful.  Before the drivers leave, however, Dave always asks them to “pay it forward, do something nice for somebody.”  I can only hope that the drivers followed suit.

In my opinion, there is much we can learn from this story such as the power that a simple kind gesture can hold. Dave’s act caused a grown man to cry and a gas station employee attested to the fact that a group of women nearly burst into tears.  And it works for both parties involved: as Dave explained, paying for a stranger’s gas costs him fifty or sixty bucks but “the feeling will last a lifetime.” Further, donating to charities is certainly helpful, but distanced.  It is intimate, face-to-face acts of kindness that carry the most weight for all involved.

With a strong sense of moral obligation, Dave also recognizes the role that acts of kindness from others have had on his own life, crediting his own successes in part to the generosity of others.  Thus, it is important for us to recognize when we are in a privileged position and harness that power to have a positive influence on others.

Even Dave’s choice not to disclose his full name to CNN is a touching testament to his kind nature.  Rather than be glorified for his kindness, Dave’s happiness stems from seeing others happy and knowing that his kindness will carry on through others.

I did find it a little bit strange, however, when Dave explained how he determines which strangers to help at the gas station.  He essentially picks out drivers based on whether they look like they would pay it forward.  I know making judgments is sort of inevitable and he has to make some choices, otherwise he would go broke paying for every single person’s gas, but this sounded problematic to me.

Ultimately, I just wonder what kind of criteria Dave uses in deciding what a good person looks like.  And in a way, maybe the ones who look less apt to do a good deed are the ones he should be targeting.  His actions could prove more powerful if he helped a wider sampling of people rather than only the ones who act kindly regardless.  Maybe these people have been less fortunate, and they need a true act of kindness from someone like Dave to inspire them.

Regardless of Dave’s methods, however, a simple story like this illustrates how the actions of one person can truly extend and positively touch countless other lives.