I remember when I started working at one of my jobs about 17 years ago. There was a deli down the street and we could go there to get coffee. The first day at work, I made the mistake of asking my coworkers “Anybody want anything from the deli?” About 8 people had various orders, specific orders like “I want toast with a little butter. I want the toast to be toasted dark gold. Just a little butter, like a schmear. I want coffee with two sugars and a lot of milk.” Someone else wanted this, someone else wanted that. This person had only a twenty dollar bill. This person had this change, this person had that change, this person had a five, this person had a ten. It was a disaster and I think I just paid for all of it and then let them give me whatever, and I probably lost out on the deal. It taught me a lesson, which was never volunteer for a task like that. I was sorry.
Now, if I’m going to the deli, I’ll ask people if they want anything and they usually say no, but if they said yes, I’d just pay for it and let them pay me if they wanted. I wouldn’t ask unless I had enough to cover it all. I usually carry around a decent amount of cash so I could handle that type of request if they wanted something big like a sandwich. If anything, the receptionist might ask for a buttered roll or a bagel and I just get it and front it, and she gets it back to me, or sometimes I say “no” and it’s a gift.