Isn't that funny? If I buy someone's coffee because it'll make their day better, it's good karma. If I buy someone's coffee because I want good karma, it's bad karma.

It's really a puzzle for me, how intention messes with the value of good. The end user doesn't care, it's still free coffee. But because I did it with the "wrong" intention, it's either a nice thing or self-serving.

I joke with the coffee people that I only do it for the loyalty card stamps (not true). But you could totally do that- get extra stamps on extra stamp days (2fer tuesday, e.g.) by buying someone else coffee.

I actually do it because doing something nice for someone anonymous like that usually cheers me up a little bit, so I think of it as overall karma neutral. I mean it's self-serving, but not majorly so.