I was fortunate enough today to walk into my local Starbucks for my usual (venti and tall soy, no water, light foam) chai lattes - and in a "random act of kindness" my barista, Nate, told me Umpqua Bank was buying people's drinks this morning.

I don't bank with Umpqua, which is one of the great success stories in regional banking in the northwest, but can you imagine how I feel about them now?

There were three women in Umpqua orange t-shirts enjoying coffee together right behind the counter, talking mostly among themselves - not handing out brochures - just having their coffee. I walked over to thank them, and it was clear that they were enjoying their morning.

What a wonderful marketing idea!

I'm pretty sure it didn't cost the bank more than $300 to create warm, fuzzy feelings in many of their neighbors hearts. Of course, the first thing I wanted to do this morning is tell people about it. I'm sure that's being replicated all over town today.

I went to their web site to look them up. Their tagline is "Enjoy the small moments. Bank wisely and live well."

Their site made me smile with this quote:

"It all started in '53. With a gallon of gas hovering around 20 cents and a three-bedroom ranch creeping past ten grand, more than a few frustrated customers were wondering how to get ahead. Some things never change."

Thank you for the lovely morning. Your act of kindness wasn't so small. And really, we both know it wasn't random, but it made me feel good about you, Umpqua Bank.

And now I'm telling the small world of Our Dear Readers about you, too. Perhaps your web site stats will show a bit of a spike today. I'm pretty certain you'll be watching. And I think you can bank on new customers as a result. (Pardon the pun.)

And I plan to pass the kindness along today. It's good karma on Friday the 13th. Cheers!