Laura sat quietly, people-watching during the crowded breakfast service. She was sipping her coffee when she noticed a sight at the breakfast counter that made her sputter. Despite the fact that the other customers seemed unconcerned about what the waitress was doing, she noticed it!

She wanted proof now that she’d caught her. She made her decision in a flash and pulled out her phone. Laura Wolf was a frequent visitor to The Waffle House, but she had never witnessed anything quite like this. Laura was taken aback when she noticed the waitress doing something strange with an old customer’s dinner.

The waitress looked around quickly to make sure nobody was watching and then began to poke around on the man’s plate. But what she didn’t know was that Laura had seen everything.

At 18 years old, Evoni Williams had been a waitress at the La Marque Texas Waffle House for years. She worked long shifts, scrimping and saving every penny to pay for her college tuition. But some days were hard.

Evoni never imagined that what she did that day would have such far-reaching consequences. And she never knew that someone was watching and recording her every move.

This particular morning was exceptionally busy for Evoni. With so many people stopping in for some breakfast, The Waffle House was packed on the morning of the incident. With so many orders, Evoni was struggling to get meals out on time.

She was working at a good pace at first. But as the pass filled with plates ready to go out, life decided to throw a curveball her way.

Adrien Charpentier was seated at the breakfast counter, but Laura didn’t recognize him. She didn’t know that he had quite a reputation among the restaurant staff in town. They had even given him a nickname.

Laura watched quietly as he leaned over to Evoni and whispered something in her ear. At exactly that moment the cook yelled for Evoni from the kitchen, but she was listening to what the man was whispering to her so intently that she didn’t hear him.

With trouble brewing among the kitchen staff, Evoni and Adrien remained still — oblivious to what was going on around them. Laura furtively leaned closer to try and catch what the old man was whispering to her.

Laura studied the man and noticed that he was struggling to breathe and was hooked up to an oxygen tank. She watched as Evoni leaned closer to catch what he was saying. Then came the moment her life would change forever. The chef was still yelling for her from the kitchen, but she ignored him. Then, the startled look that came over her face said it all.

Evoni continued to ignore the shouts from the kitchen and the other guests trying to flag her down with a peculiar expression on her face. She made a brave move and slid the old man’s ham plate over to her side of the counter. Then she did something to the man’s dinner that completely threw Laura off.

She wasn’t used to servers acting in this manner. She was well aware of her responsibilities. Laura was curious as to what the old guy had said to the waitress, but all she had to go on was Evoni’s reaction. Her gaze was fixed on what she was doing, with intermittent darts around the room to see whether anyone was looking at her. Her face was both terrified and triumphant at the same time.

Laura, on the other hand, was not the sort to let anything like this pass her by. She took her phone from her handbag, quietly reaching down into it with one hand.

Laura carefully snapped away, making sure her flash was turned off, and acquired all the proof she needed.

The man’s back covered her vision, but she could see Evoni’s elbows frantically going up and down. Laura would soon make sure that everyone knew what had transpired today at The Waffle House.

The man was likewise paying close attention to Evoni’s actions. When Evoni was finished, she moved the plate back over to him and watched his breathing increase.

Laura couldn’t see the man’s face, but she could see Evoni’s as she smiled at him slightly. Then, he picked up his fork. Then, the man said something to Evoni that made tears well up in Laura’s eyes. She swiped through the photos she had just taken and shared the best one on Facebook. Asking her server for the bill and about to leave, she stopped when her phone began to beep furiously.

Evoni was now Facebook-famous — whether she wanted to be or not. There was no going back. But what Evoni didn’t know was that Laura hadn’t been the only one recording her actions that day.

Evoni had just done what had come naturally to her, she had no idea that she was being watched. Ignoring the kitchen staff and other diners, she knew she had to finish what she’d started.

The restaurant’s security camera and Laura had caught everything. When she was done tampering with Adrian’s food, he had said apologetically: “My hands don’t work too good…”

Laura Wolf’s post read: “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.”

Just a short while later, her post had gone viral with 99,000 likes and 47,000 shares. But the public wasn’t done with the waitress yet.

The post was seen so many times that netizens all agreed that what Evoni had done deserved some recognition. By then, the post had caught the eye of Bobby Hocking, the Mayor of La Marque.

The Mayor unexpectedly showed up at The Waffle House to present Evoni with a large check. The poor waitress couldn’t believe her eyes! The amount on the check would cover her college expenses – it was just what she had hoped for!

The check was for $16,000 and came from Texas State University, where Evoni had received a scholarship to attend studies.
When asked why she helped Adrian that day, Evoni said she did so because it was the proper thing to do and she didn’t expect anything in return. When the Mayor handed her the check, she sobbed uncontrollably.

The Waffle House manager was thrilled for Evoni. He couldn’t be happier that it was one of his star employees who had received so much attention for her good deed.

But Evoni thinks what she did for Adrian was a small gesture, hardly worth mentioning. But what she did meant the world to Adrian Charpentier, who had been battling health issues recently.

Adrian is also known as “Mr. Karaoke.” He explained to Evoni that the past five weeks had been difficult for him as he had been in and out of the hospital.

“It started with pneumonia,” he told ABC News. “I can hold a fork fine and dandy — but to cut it looks like I’m going to stab somebody,” he said, laughing. With the muscles in his hands growing weak, he struggled with basic tasks such as cutting up his food. Evoni had known exactly what to do for him.

“I was just like, ‘Sure! If you need help, that’s what I am here for,’” Evoni said in an interview.. “My cook was calling my name to pick up food I had on the board, but I continued to cut his ham… It’s just something I would do for anybody,” she added. And Adrien appreciated her help more than she knew.

“It means a lot. I need help and the waitresses issue it to me,” Adrien said tearfully. But it was social media users who couldn’t get enough of the post.

The young waitress had helped an elderly customer with so much sensitivity and grace. But it was Evoni and Laura who were most surprised of all when the Mayor showed an interest in the story.

“We wanted to reward Evoni’s act of kindness and let her know that good deeds do not go unnoticed,” said Melinda Spaulding, an administrator at Texas Southern University. “She has the character of the type of students we want at Texas Southern University.”

Now, Evoni’s prospects have widened to allow her to study and one day open her dream business — her very own hair salon.