Teen Cuts Food for Elderly Man at Counter. She Didn't Know Another Customer Was Watching
Waffle House employee Evoni Williams wasn’t seeking praise or admiration when she took an extra minute to assist a customer in need. Her behavior was typical, something she would have done without a second thought, a simple act that easily could have gone unnoticed.
But we live in a world that is so desperate for good news, aching to see glimpses of human kindness to give us hope.
And when 18-year-old Williams humbly helped 78-year-old Adrien Charpentier by cutting up his breakfast meat, a stranger saw that hope and was moved.
The La Marque, Texas restaurant was busy, as is typical for a Saturday morning. Charpentier admitted to Williams that his hands didn’t work quite the same way anymore, and needed help cutting his food.
“He was like, ‘My hands are not functioning too well,'” Williams recalled. “He needed me to cut his food. And I did.”
Meanwhile, a customer named Laura Wolf noticed the sweet scene between the teenager and elderly gentleman. She snapped a quick photo and couldn’t help but share it on social media, where it quickly captured the hearts of people everywhere.
“It was so busy in here, and she actually took the time to stop and hear what he had to say instead of walking past him,” Wolf told KHOU-TV. “That just meant something to me.”
Charpentier chuckled when he found out he was internet famous. “Someone told me a few days later that I was very popular because they got me on Facebooks,” he grinned.
It wasn’t long before Williams found herself heaped with public praise and admiration as she stood beside La Marque Mayor Bobby Hocking. The teenager wiped away tears as the La Marque City Council proclaimed March 8, 2018, Evoni “Nini” Williams Day.
But there was something else in store for Williams, who worked full time at Waffle House as a way to save up for college. Texas Southern University showed up with a huge surprise for the college hopeful.
Williams’ selfless act of kindness resonated with leadership at TSU, who said she was exactly the type of person the university wants on their campus.
With that, the university handed Williams a $16,000 dollar scholarship, good for $4,000 per semester for two years.
Williams couldn’t stop the stream of tears from flowing down as she accepted her scholarship. She has always wanted to pursue a business management degree, and now that her random act of kindness has come full circle, she can.
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