[6bangerBOOM]

Originally Posted by sizl1

Sorry to be a negative nancy, but this phenomena smells a lot like "peer pressure standing ovation" where you're forced to do a standing ovation because everyone else around you is doing it too, and you'll feel like an ass if you don't.

In other words, if you're just paying for the guy behind you and everyone else is doing it too, then it all balances out and no-one actually did anything net nice. Since everyone is in a queue doing EXACTLY the same thing (as in lining up and buying coffee), it's not really a net nice gesture. If on the other hand, you're doing something out of the blue nice and you don't have a line up of people who are peer-pressured into copying it so that the net effect is zeroed out, then that's really a nice gesture. For example, going online and donating to a worthy cause where no-one knows and it's not like a circular ponzi scheme where everyone is just paying for the next guy.

Just saying.

And this is why we don't quantify generosity.