‘So awkward and tragic’: Customers show up an hour late to pick up their food, workers are already eating it

A Malone's worker captured a tricky situation where a customer arrived to pick up their food late only to find employees eating it.

TikTok user @daannggit uploaded a viral clip that's gained over 2.2 million views which shows her and her co-workers pretending to "freeze" while being caught in the act.

The video features two food service workers standing in what appears to be a kitchen. They remain entirely still, in the middle of chowing down on some grub. A text overlay in the clip reads, "When they show up an hour later to pick up their food but you're already eating it."

"So awkward and tragic," the user added in the caption, but this isn't the first time a customer's food being eaten by a worker has gone viral. In January 2023, a DoorDash customer confronted a driver who was found sitting in their car and munching on their grub while in the parking lot of their complex. The driver stated that they couldn't find the woman's address, which is why they decided to help themselves to their meal.

@daannggit So awkward and tragic #carryout ♬ original sound - hemissme

NPR published an article citing statistics that show one in four drivers have "admitted to stealing a bite from their customer's order."

The Tiktoker's post touches on a phenomenon that's a bit different, however, as it appears she works in a sit-down restaurant.

One viewer thought that the time frame would necessitate a fresh order for the customer anyway since it would've probably been cold by that point.

"At that point I’d just tell them that we had to discard it since it had gone cold and we will make it fresh for them," they said.

This was an excuse another TikToker shared, writing, "'We’re remaking it fresh for you because it got cold!' (me and my coworkers have been taking turns in the back eating it)."

This type of excuse seemed common for food service workers, with one who commented, "'Sorry protocol is we have to discard after an hour, otherwise it's a health regulation violation.'"

While being an hour late to pick up a food order seems like a big enough delay, one user said they interacted with a customer who had that time beat.

"No cause once someone placed an order at 3pm and came to pick it up at 9…. like why would you think we have it??" they said.

The Daily Dot has reached out to T via TikTok comment and Malone's via email.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post ‘So awkward and tragic’: Customers show up an hour late to pick up their food, workers are already eating it appeared first on The Daily Dot.