New Drive-Through Trend:
Pay it Backward

Ford Fusion Commercial Implies There Is An Upside To The End-of-the-Line

June 18, 2006
By: O. J. Cunningham

I've been driving for over forty years. I've been in line a lot. We all have.

And, as far as I can recall, I have only been involved in two instances of "Pay It Backward."

Pay It Backward is when the car nearer to the front of the drive-through line, pays the bill for the car immediately behind without ever having met that person before.

The reason I mention this is because of the the (now) constant airing of the newest Ford Fusion car commercial. In this commercial, the bold Ford Fusion driver (a pretty dark-haired young thing, I might add), picks up the tab for a "couple of that guy's shirts" (in the car behind her.)And then leaves her card with the window clerk. "Give him my card," she beams.


Just for the record . . . As far as I can tell, this hunk didn't do anything nice for her. He didn't let her merge. He didn't wave her through. She merely thought he was hot,hot, hot after ogling him in her rear-view mirror. So she threw money at the guy and then left her card.

And . . . I think Ms. Ford Fusion was quite impressed with herself about the whole incident - if the smug little smile on her face as she drives away is any indication.

If this kind of foreplay catches on, it's possible that the "fast food waiting line" might just replace bad pick-up lines at the local bar scene on Midland Street. Or this new social interaction may replace Match.com and E-Harmony as the new spawning ground for first meetings and then evolve into a new dating trend . . . to be, of course, followed by the inevitable sexual harassment lawsuits?

In case you have been in the hospital, in prison or your television is broken . . . Here's the link to the Ford Fusion commercial of which I drone on about . . . Ford Fusion Commercial - Click Here

My Two Experiences - Mentioned Above:

About two years ago, when the McDonald's on Washington was still on my list of lunch spots, I bought a nice lady (in a Ford Taurus) a Two-Cheeseburger, Fries and a medium Coke meal.

Reason? She graciously let me in line because I had driven in from Washington Avenue. There was already long line that originated from Ninth or Tenth Street. I was trying to merge (silly me) . . . with very little luck. At least 4 cars moved past me without making eye contact.

She was car number five. We made eye-contact. And she motioned for me to merge into her line. By the time I got to the pay window, she had already placed her order. I paid for her lunch.

Simple enough. A "Thanks" with no strings attached.

In similar fashion, at the Flint Bishop Airport parking tollbooth,I waved a lady in ahead of me when she had already been "denied" by four or five other cars who were obviously in a big hurry to get on I-75 after a long flight.

This driver was so moved by my act of kindness,that she dropped a $10 spot on the tollbooth lady to cover my parking expenses - without really knowing what they were.

My parking tab was only seventy-five cents. The tollbooth lady gave ME the change. Imagine that! I used the money to buy fast food for someone else later that week.

You know . . . "Paying It Forward." (No Strings Attached!)

But the Ford Fusion lady has taken it a step further. Upped the ante' so to speak. Bumped It Up A Notch! She not only bought a few shirt cleanings for the stud behind her. But then, (follow me on this), she asked the clerk to give the stud her business card.

This completely changes the Pay It Forward dynamic.

What if I had left my card for the nice lady in the McDonald's line? Or even more scary, what if the lady at Flint Bishop Airport had left HER card with the tollbooth clerk? It's all-together different to have $9.25 of Pay It Forward money with no strings then to have the money and a "business card."

And I think YOU ALL KNOW WHAT I MEAN!

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS?

I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to pull into line behind anyone in a Ford Fusion.

And who knows, I might even get free lunch and a business card for my efforts.

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