Viral ‘Burger King Mom’ juggled a whole shift solo, now says she’s lost her job

Nykia Hamilton, 25, is a single mother of three from Columbia, South Carolina. A video of Hamilton went viral in July after a customer made a video of her working an entire shift alone in Burger King as a colleague of hers quit the job mid-shit.

In the video Hamilton was doing everything herself from cooking food, running the drive-thru, cleaning, and managing the front counter, all at the same time. The viral clip made people admire her hard work and also caused outrage over her tough working conditions, as reported by The Grio.

Hamilton told WACH News that working so much made her miss out on her kids’ lives: “I have to provide for them, but I really don’t have time to spend with them—and it hurts me a lot”, as reported by The Grio.

Burger King mom fired

Despite her hard work, she was recently fired from Burger King because she was sometimes late due to taking care of her kids. She explained tearfully on TikTok: “My kids come first. Y’all don’t pay for no babysitter, or nothing”.

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GoFundMe and viral fame

After going viral, she started a GoFundMe which is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform to support herself and her children. The initial goal was $60,000, which was later raised to $70,000. Hundreds of donors have contributed, and she is now close to reaching her fundraising goal. Hamilton also spoke honestly about the stress of viral fame.

She said it brought financial help but also left her exposed and vulnerable: “I’m already aggravated, I’m already depressed, all of this mental shit… I ain’t want no fame, no money, none of this s—”. On her GoFundMe page, she wrote: “I wasn’t expecting my life to change how it did. I really do everything for my kids”, as stated by The Grio.

FAQs

Q1: Why was Nykia Hamilton, the Burger King Mom, fired?
She was fired because she was sometimes late due to taking care of her kids.

Q2: How is Nykia Hamilton supporting her kids after losing her job?
She started a GoFundMe, which has raised donations to help her and her children.