A woman in Chicago, Illinois, ordered a latte at a local Dunkin’ and wished the employee a good day after receiving her drink. The employee thanked her, but then unexpectedly called her a “weirdo.” She later shared the encounter online, where her story quickly went viral. In response, Dunkin’ issued an apology and offered her a $100 gift card.
The clip was shared on TikTok by Inayah Beldeen, a popular content creator known for posting lifestyle videos centered on her experiences as a Muslim woman. The video became her most successful post to date, amassing 5.5 million views, 635,100 likes, and nearly 5,800 comments.
A longer, unedited version of the 16-second clip showed the Illinois woman arriving at the Dunkin’ drive-thru. She was greeted by the employee in question and, after taking a moment to decide, ordered a small Marshmallow Cloud Dunkalatte and a Maple Frosted Donut. Inayah then drove to the next window, paid, and received her order.
While arranging the items in her car, she asked the employee, “How are you?” but received no response. She then thanked her and added, “Have a good day.” The employee, however, replied, “You too. Thank you. Weirdo.” As she drove away, a confused Inayah simply asked, “What?”
In a follow-up clip, the Illinois woman said the employee had seemingly been rude throughout the entire interaction. According to Inayah, the woman gave her “death stares,” despite her attempts to make brief, polite conversation. After hearing the word “weirdo” and replaying the recording, she said she became even more upset, especially because she was already having a difficult day.
After clarifying that she did not believe the remark stemmed from racism or Islamophobia, Inayah added that while she did not want the employee to be fired, she did want Dunkin’ to address the situation.
As she explained in another follow-up, Inayah emailed Dunkin’ and received an apology. The company offered her a $100 gift card and additional items to make up for her unpleasant drive-thru experience.
Many People Believe That the Worker’s Comment Was Quite Rude to the Woman
The videos sparked a wave of heated reactions, with many users weighing in on the incident.
“Trusting the algorithm to bring me back for the unemployment update.”
“I’m too problematic cus I’d be reversing.”
“This is why people act mean now; they were once polite like this lady and then experienced some shit like this and became mean.”
Although Inayah accepted the apology gifts, she did not return to the location, and most likely will not go back.
