A Papa John’s worker and TikToker @bartoli slamed workers at rival pizza chain, Domino’s, for complaining about the amount of work they have to complete in a single shift.
@bartoli’s video begins with a stitch of a chaotic kitchen scene from a Domino’s restaurant where a worker says they’re leaving along with their co-workers, in the middle of a dinner rush. The Daily Dot previously reported on this story.
The Papa John’s employee says that he finds this kind of behavior despicable, calling the Domino’s workers soft for throwing in the towel because the going got tough.
@bartoli Dominos built like a cookie they way the crumble under pressure
♬ original sound – Doughtoli
In his response to Domino’s, @bartoli records himself working on a pizza. Throughout his monologue, he manipulates the dough, tosses it behind his pack, dusts it with flour, stretches it, and gets it ready to be topped and baked.
“You know what Domino’s? It might have been a hard day, it might have been difficult, might have had a full screen, but I would have got that done in 10 minutes,” he says. “You know what they call me here? The one-man machine. I don’t know your work situation, if it was hard, but some days are bad and some days are good and you guys need to understand that people went hungry because you guys are lazy.”
He continues to slam the “laziness” of the Domino’s employees, highlighting that they crumbled under pressure and felt no sense of loyalty to their customers.
The Papa John’s worker also urged them to cease this type of behavior, saying, “You guys had a hard night. Do better. I’m tired of you people, especially Domino’s, not understanding and appreciating the power of pizza. You guys break too easily.” He drives the point home by cracking a giant cookie from a tray with his hands, slamming the pieces down on the counter, and smashing them with a mallet.
“You guys don’t try hard enough. You guys are soft, chewy. You guys are built like a cookie. And that’s, how the cookie crumbles,” he says before taking a bite of a piece of the cookie to round out the video.
One commenter seemed to appreciate @bartoli’s inspirational monologue, stating that it inspired them to order Papa John’s.
“Ordering Papa Johns tonight just because of this man,” they wrote. “Give him a raise.”
Another echoed this sentiment, writing, “Get this man his own store.”
However, another TikToker said the amount of work food service businesses, like Papa John’s and Domino’s, expect from their workers doesn’t exactly motivate employees because of how much they’re paid.
“Problem is when you do all that work for minimum wage, they’ll never have a reason to pay you more,” they wrote.
“Corporations LOVE this guy!” someone else said, seemingly hinting that he’s a blindly loyal type of employee.
Others found themselves impressed with his pizza-making skills, with a user sharing, “As a former papa John’s manager the way you handled that dough was mint.”
“I just love how he’s lecturing them while he’s makeing pizza easy,” someone else exclaimed.
One TikToker said that @bartoli’s skills were indicative of their collective Papa John’s experience.
“He just killed that. Fr the papa John’s by my house has at max two people working at a time and they always have my pizza ready in 15-20 mins,” they commented.
A number of reports have been circulating the internet about the struggles food service industry workers face while at their respective jobs. NPR summed them up, attributing “low pay [and] rude customers,” while adding that “low wages are the most common reason people cite for leaving food service work.”
As a result of these factors, the food service industry is one of few businesses, on a mass scale, that continues to find itself fighting against staffing issues in a post-pandemic economy.
The Daily Dot has contacted Domino’s and Papa John’s via email and @bartoli via TikTok comment.
