the coffee incident

Today was destined to be a good day. The friendly barista at Starbucks didn't charge me for my fix...My venti black bold coffee was on the house. You know you've become a 'Bucks junkie when the baristas greet you with, "A venti black coffee, right?"
For a moment, I thought I might have stolen my coffee. As I drove off, I replayed the drive-thru window incident in my head...
I had my money out, ready to pay, when the barista (I don't know his name but he's a regular morning employee) handed me my coffee and said, "All right, man. Here ya go, now get outta here." I was dumbfounded by the brief interaction. I recall saying, "Huh? Okay...Hey, man, have a good one" and drove off. Shit. I didn't even say 'thank you.' I mean, I meant to but I was so surprised by his generosity (a clear violation of Starbucks policy, no doubt...No need to consult the employee handbook on that one) that sense and reason temporarily escaped me.
Once I regained my composure, I thought, Wait, what if I'm mistaken here? Did I miss something? Perhaps something was lost in the unspoken translation. But no. No way. We all know how drive-thru transactions work: You pull up, hand the cashier your dough, and the food/beverage is given to you. End of transaction. Yes, he clearly skipped the 'payment' part of the transaction by handing me the coffee and ignoring the money in my hand, which was hanging out of my car window and in plain sight, mind you. And by adding "Now get outta here" he was clearly stating that the transaction was complete.
I should note that the "get outta here" wasn't spoken in a derogative manner. No animosity whatsoever. Although, it was a rather odd thing to say, but what did I expect him to say? "Here ya go! Here's your FREE coffee! Hey, everyone, did you hear that? I'm breaking the rules and giving Mr. Junkie here his coffee -- free of charge!" No, these kind of transactions, these illegal transactions, are always performed discreetly, under the cloak of night, or, in this case, the early morning hour of 6 am.
Okay...so the coffee was supposed to be free. A favor. An act of kindness. A reward for my continued loyalty. Now [sigh], where was I? Oh yeah, today was destined to be a good day...

mc