What do you expect to happen on a usual morning? The normal work rituals, right? This waffle house waitress in La Marque, Texas, started off her normal day but she didn’t expect something unusual happening to her regular day. A chain of events changed her life and she didn’t expect any of it in her wildest dream. And it all happened while she was serving coffee. Check out how her coffee serving day changed her life.
Not A Usual Day
It was a normal day for Evoni Williams but there was something unusual about the day. A regular visitor, Laura Wolf came in to grab her usual cup of coffee and expected the regular conversations with the Waffle House’s staff. However, she noticed something different and took out her phone to click pictures of a staff member. That person didn’t know that she was being recorded by anyone.
The Unusual Traffic
The waffle house was unusually busy that day and it seemed like half of the town was in the waffle house. However, Laura was able to spot something weird that day and it was like no other day.
This place was full of people and amidst all the rush, Laura’s eyes were on a waitress and she was noticing everything precisely.
The Waitress In Radar
Laura visited this place every day and was familiar with most employees and one of them was Evoni Williams; she had been working in the house for quite some time and she was a hard worker.
This was a little girl of just 18 years of age and she was working to save up money for her college. She had been putting the best foot forward but was not able to save enough money.
A Fortunate Day
Evoni was excited about the fact that the restaurant was crowded. It was a day for her to gain a tip much more than the usual days. The more the tip, the more savings she was about to collect. She was all up for the day and was serving the hot plates to the customers.
The staff was enough to serve these many people. Hence, Evoni was trying her best to serve as many customers as she could. She was hustling and bustling to keep up with everything and everyone. While she was serving a table, she noticed something and that distracted her.
What Was It?
It was a regular customer that she had noticed. It was a 78-year-old man, Adrien A.K.A Mr. Karaoke. He used to visit the Waffle House at least once a week and Evoni was familiar with him.
His health had been deteriorating all this while. This time she noticed him with an oxygen tank and it made her do something remarkable.
Waving Towards Evoni
While Evoni was working hard, she had not a second to take rest or break. That is when Adrien tried to catch her attention by waving a hand towards her.
That is when she saw him and went towards the bar where he was sitting. The elderly man started whispering as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear the conversation. And all this while, Evoni was on camera.
The Camera Catches It All
Laura Wolf was sitting right across the bar. And she could see the two of them having a private conversation. Though, she couldn’t hear anything. Laura leaned in to see if she could catch the vibe of the conversation.
She saw that the man was a bit embarrassed to talk to the little girl. This was the moment when Laura realized that something incredible was about to happen and she took out the camera to put things on the record.
Struggled To Understand
Amidst all the crowd, it was difficult to hear what was really wrong with Mr. Karaoke. Evoni tried her best to get to know what the issue was. Moreover, the old man had to use an oxygen tank and that made it difficult for him to speak loudly.
While all this happened, one of the cooks yelled at her and Evoni ignored him to know what Adrien was trying to say.
Was Food A Problem?
It was difficult to know what the real problem was. She initially thought it was a complaint about the food as that is one of the most common complaints about the food joint. Laura saw that the old man pushed the plate of the plate towards the girl and she pushed the plate filled with ham, toast, home fries, and scrambled eggs back to him.
It Wasn’t Easy To Make Out What Was Happening
For this brief period, Adrien had Evoni’s complete attention and she was willing to take that time out of her busy day. At that point of time, she wasn’t thinking about her hungry customers and wanted to know the problem of the old man.
Laura was still recording all of it on camera.
The Importance Of CCTV Camera
When we talk about busy food joints such as Waffle House, CCTV cameras take a bird’s view of everything and that is what was happening in this particular place. Also, Laura was keen to know what was actually happening.
All this was happening on a fateful day and Evoni and Adrien were unaware of what was going on.
In The Public Eye
Laura Wolf was watching the whole scene and was recording the whole scenario where the waitress was returning the food to the old man. She posted the pictures of Evoni and Adrien on her Facebook account.
She shared it without thinking of what would become of the whole situation and how it would change Evoni’s life.
A Question
The video showed the whole incident clearly and it was clear that due to deteriorating health, Adrien was unable to do his daily tasks. Adrien told that he couldn’t cut the ham and he needed help in it. That is why he waved to Evoni and asked for help.
He said, “I can hold a fork fine and dandy but to cut it looks like I’m going to stab somebody.”
Someone In Need
Evoni talked about the whole incident and said, “He was like, ‘My hands are not functioning too well’. He needed me to cut his food for him, so I did.”
Evoni then cut down the ham and gave it back to the old man. This was pretty much regular for the waitress so she didn’t pay much attention to it and went ahead with her remaining day.
The Facebook Post
Laura knew that she wanted to bring this story out and she was aware of the fact that Facebook is strong enough to bring that wave. She posted the video with a caption, “I don’t know her name but I heard this elderly man tell her his hands don’t work too good. He was also on oxygen and struggling to breathe. Without hesitation, she took his plate and began cutting up his ham. This may seem small but to him, I’m sure it was huge. I’m thankful to have seen this act of kindness and caring at the start of my day while everything in this world seems so negative.”
That was it and the post went viral.
Laura Didn’t Expect A Big Number
Once she posted it, the video got immense response and the attention it received was mind-boggling for Laura. People started sharing her video and the word spread quickly. The good deed of the girl was rare and people found it endearing.
Laura then decided to close her post but little did she know that the result was going to be drastic.
Praises All Around
Laura’s post was viral and within a few days, it had received more than 90,000 likes and nearly 50,000 shares. People were touched by how patient Evoni had been with her old customer. Adrien got some attention from the post as well and people started recalling him from the video.
He said, “Somebody told me two days later that I was very popular because they saw me on Facebook.” Some of them even joked that they got a fancy picture of his suspenders in the back.
Overwhelming Response
As the post kept getting viral, it reached more people and one of those people was Texas’ mayor, Bobby Hocking. As soon as he heard of this good deed, he wanted to meet this girl and arranged a meeting that took place at the Waffle House.
This place had cameras but Evoni didn’t realize what was going to be recorded in those cameras. Mayor wanted everyone to witness the special event of honoring her.
The Mayor Arrived
As the D-Day arrived, the place was filled with cameras and reporters and this time, she knew she was going to be recorded.
The mayor arrived and was standing at the bar. He said that he wanted to give a special presentation. He declared that March 8 would be celebrated as “Evoni ‘Nini’ Williams Day” in La Marque. Needless to say, Evoni was in disbelief.
Favor Returned
As this teenage was making rounds on the internet, people wanted to know more about her. People realized she was working here to save up for her admission to college. Hence, some residents of La Marque came forward to create GoFundMe account as they wanted to generate money for her tuition fees for college.
This news reached some important people and the story took a turn.
Involving Many People
As the post went viral more and more people joined in. and started donating to the GoFundMe page. People wanted her to attend college and people from all across the country came forward to help the waitress.
Some staff at Texas Southern University heard about the ambition of this girl and they decided to help her in a unique way.
Someone Important
As the holiday was declared, Evoni was ecstatic to know that Adrien and Laura were both there to cheer her. However, she was unaware of the presence of one person and she would have never expected that in her wildest dream.
It was the president of Texas State University! He wanted to meet her and tell her how good deeds get unnoticed.
The Announcement
After the Mayor, it was the president of the university who came to the bar and made another announcement. He gave her the gift of a lifetime that no one could have ever imagined.
He held a jumbo check of $16,000 and handed it over to Evoni. It was a scholarship for her to get admitted to college and pursue her further education. Evoni was left in tears of joy.
The Responsible People
The people who started this off were the happiest. Laura Wolf and Adrien had no idea what they were part of but when they realized the velocity of the incident, they were happy to know that it improved the future of a waitress of one of the Waffle Houses.
Laura said, “It was so busy in here, you know? And she actually took the time to stop and hear what he had to say instead of walking past him. It just meant something to me.”
The Humble Little Girl
She Said that she only did what was needed. The old man was in need and she helped him with what he wanted. She did nothing to get a scholarship or a day after her. In fact, she didn’t know that such a minor task of kindness could give someone a better future.
She said, “I don’t know, it was something I would do any other day.”
However, this kindness is rare and we need to appreciate anyone who is treating people with kindness.
