Illinois woman goes through Dunkin’ drive-thru. Then she catches worker calling her a name for no reason as she drives off: ‘I’d be reversing’

A woman captured an awkward exchange between herself and a Dunkin’ worker. It all went down while she picked up her order at the drive-thru.

The viral TikTok video, uploaded by Inayah Beldeen (@inayahbeldeen), amassed over 13.3 million views as of Thursday. It also received 1.4 million likes and over 10,000 comments.

In the clip, Inayah recorded herself as she collected her order.

The woman and the worker seemed to have a friendly exchange until the woman pulled off.

That’s when the employee is heard saying, “weirdo.”

“What?” Inayah responded, but she had already driven away from the drive-thru window.

She appeared to be shocked by the worker’s comment.

Was There More To It?

In a follow-up video, Inaya responded to a comment that pondered why she didn’t reverse and confront the worker.

She explained that right before the interaction, she watched a lecture that encouraged Muslims to “be quiet” when encountering negativity or conflict.

Apparently, she felt like she was being tested when she encountered the Dunkin’ worker.

The worker gave her an attitude as soon as she encountered her.

Nevertheless, the woman attempted to be pleasant and asked her how her day was going.

That’s when Inayah said she received “death stares.”

She was fine with the worker having a bad attitude, but found it extra cruel that she referred to her as “a weirdo.”

“I’m not gonna say it’s islamaphobe, I’m not gonna say its racist,” Inayah ultimately concluded. “But I truly don’t know what it is.”

While it is difficult to know the motivation behind the worker’s words, in the comments section, some recognized how difficult it is to be Muslim in America.

“I’m so sorry this happened, muslims have it so hard in america.. may allah swt protect you at all cost,” one commenter wrote.

Many studies have found that anti-Muslim sentiment is on the rise both in America and globally.

Surveys have found that half of all Americans have negative opinions about Muslims.

How Did Commenters Respond?

In the video’s comments section, other users defended the worker.

They argued the worker could’ve been talking to another employee or someone else nearby.

“To be fair she could have been talking to a coworker or had her phone nearby on a call & resumed as you were leaving. Can ya please stop trynna ruin lives over something that could have been a misunderstanding,” user polonotee commented.

Others said the worker could’ve been upset that she was recording the interaction.

“No its bec ur obvi recording but okay,” one user said.

“Not defending her rudeness but maybe she thought it was weird that you were filming this interaction,” another user added.

@inayahbeldeen UPDATE** DO NOT LEAVE A REVIEW PLEASE. THEY DID RIGHT THEIR WRONG Listen the Muslim in me stays quiet. The human in me wanted to say something back. @Dunkin' and I absolutely tagged the exact location. #dunkin #dunkindonuts ♬ original sound – Inayah Beldeen

What Happened After The Video Went Viral?

As the clip spread across TikTok, some viewers began trying to identify the Dunkin’ location where the interaction took place.

Others encouraged people to leave negative reviews or contact the store to complain about the worker’s behavior.

However, Inayah urged people not to target the establishment. She later updated her video’s caption to say, “UPDATE** DO NOT LEAVE A REVIEW PLEASE. THEY DID RIGHT THEIR WRONG.”

Although she didn’t elaborate on exactly what actions the business took, her update suggested that the situation had been addressed behind the scenes.

Rather than encouraging further backlash, she asked viewers to refrain from harming the location’s reputation.

In an update provided to The Mary Sue, the woman explained that the employee was “let go.”

“The company did reach out to me after the video gained traction. They apologized for what happened and invited me to come in so they could give me a gift card and some merchandise. I didn’t feel comfortable going in, so I respectfully declined,” she said.

However, she added that they later sent her an e-gift card.

“Afterward, the company reached out once more and asked if I would either remove the location from the video or take the video down because the store was receiving harassment and employees were feeling uncomfortable,” she continued. “I wish I had remembered to remove the location when I put the video back up. I didn’t even know that that was an option. That made me feel bad, because again, that was never the outcome I wanted. Manager did say the employee was let go.”

The Mary Sue reached out to Dunkin’ via emai and more information.

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