South Ender Bought Everyone's Coffee at the Buttery

It was a simple enough act, especially when you consider coffee is already designed to brighten your day. But in light of the terrible events in Boston on Monday afernoon, South End resident Jeff Long decided to pay for everyone's morning coffee at the South End Buttery on Tuesday.

Long, who has been a loyal Buttery customer for eight years, approached the store's owner, Richard Gordon, early on Tuesday morning and asked if he could pay for everyone's coffee and tea drinks on their way to work on Tuesday morning, Gordon said. 

"Although I recognized there were some logistical issues to doing this successfully and efficiently during our busy morning rush, I immediately said 'Yes!' and we worked on a way to make it work," Gordon said. "Less than 5 minutes later, we were telling customers things like 'One of our customers wants to buy you coffee this morning,' and 'Your latte today is on one of our customers who wants to take care of it for you.'

Gordon said there was a huge outpouring of appreciation and gratitude for Long's thoughtful gesture.

"It was like as though this simple act had unleashed a wave of emotion over our customers," he said. "It was such a thoughtful way to help people - most of them complete strangers - deal with "the morning after" the attack at the Marathon finish line on Monday. Customers were genuinely touched and grateful."

Do you have an uplifting tale to tell from the South End in the last few days? Email sara.jacobi@patch.com or leave a comment. 

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