While waiting in line at an AtlantaMcDonald’s, Feroza Syed watched in horror as the man in front of her threw his drink at the fast food employee working the window.
According to a story reported by CNN, the customer decided to abuse an essential worker because he didn't want ice in his drink. When Syed finally pulled up to the window she met Bryanna, who was soaked, crying, and also six months pregnant.
That's when Syed offered Bryanna $20 before heading home to post about the incident on Facebook.
“At drive thru, guy in front of me threw a soda at the woman b/c it wasn’t what he wanted. She was crying,” Syed wrote. “Tried to get out of my car to kick his ass, but I was blocked in. Y’all do better.”
As reactions to her post poured in, Syed decided to turn the attention into material support for Bryanna, asking friends and family to send "$5 or (whatever)" to her Venmo or Cash App for the soon-to-be-mother. After collection the donations, Syed was able to get back in touch with Bryanna through her manager
"(Feroza) was like ...'I have a surprise for you and I really want to give it to you in person' so I sent her my address," Bryanna told CNN. "She gave me the envelope and I couldn't do nothing but cry because I wasn't expecting that."
Syed brought a total of $1,700 in donations from people who saw Bryanna's story on Facebook.
"A large portion of the donations were $5, $10, $20 and that totaled up to a large sum of money," Syed told CNN, who wanted to show Bryanna that “not all humans are horrible."
Syed also shared Bryanna's Cash App handle so that others could send money to her directly and helped her set up a baby registry.
"She has been a blessing," Bryanna said of Syed. "There's still some good people out there."
While the story sounds like a holiday miracle, Syed emphasized that anyone can do what she did: support community members and essential workers during these tough times.
"Doing the right thing inspires others to do the right thing and what I keep learning again and again and again is when you see something like this or any situation where someone is being mistreated or harmed ... all it takes is one person to change the narrative," she said. "When we talk about how to give back to our essential workers who put their lives on the line feeding, housing, shopping and providing health care for us — remember that anyone can do what I did.”
