At a Starbucks in Connecticut, almost 450 drive-thru customers set off a chain reaction of caffeine and generosity over Christmas. A mysterious customer started the chain early on Tuesday, and it kept going until this morning. The store opened with $45 in the pay-it-forward fund this morning.

As far as we know, this is a new record, and it could be . The previous one was 228 customers at a Tim Hortons drive-thru in Canada.

Are these chains inefficient and kind of silly? Sure. We still love to hear about them, though. It’s the symbolism of sharing with others. We like the idea that people receive someone else’s generosity, then choose to pass it on.

Hundreds show generosity at Newington, Conn. Starbucks [NECN] (Warning: auto-play video!)

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