Coffee karma: On Friday morning, nearly 40 kind-hearted citizens in the drive-thru at the store on Boise’s Broadway Avenue were paying it forward by paying it backward.

What happened? A customer in the drive-thru line paid for their order and then paid for the person behind them — a complete stranger. When that customer pulled up to the window, the barrista explained the order had already been paid. So that customer continued, in the random-acts-of-kindness spirit, by paying for the order of the person in the next car. This went on for 38 consecutive cars.

A publicity stunt? No, an Idaho Statesman reporter happened to pull into the drive-thru about 9:45 a.m. while the kindness was in progress. “This has been awesome,” barrista Joey Tornambe said. “We’ve had this happen before, but not this many people.”

Is this common? A couple other Starbucks stores confirmed that the practice is more and more common, especially around the holidays. But the barristas could not elaborate; all media calls have to go to the corporate office in Washington state. Which kind of takes a little of the fun out of celebrating Idaho generosity.