Passionate people often embrace perfectionism when they’re creating something. They pore over every minute detail or add that little accent that’s going to turn whatever it is they’re making into the exact vision they had in their heads.
Even if they don’t enjoy what it is they’re doing, master craftspeople see this approach as a necessary component of being an artist. For those who aren’t similarly dedicated, however, working with someone who has this mindset can be frustrating.
Especially if the artist in question is a person who’s holding your pizza hostage and you’re stuck at home like TikToker Adeib (@adeibb) was when he was twiddling his thumbs over a grumbling stomach.
That’s what the TikToker said happened when he decided to use Uber Eats to place an order for a dessert and some pizza. While he was able to get his sweet treat without a problem, Adeib found that satisfying his pizza craving was a Herculean feat—it took two separate delivery drivers to complete the task.
@adeibb My beef w a pizza store 😭 #storytime #arabtiktok #nyc #fooddeliverygonewrong ♬ original sound – Adeib
Adeib shared the stressful encounter he had with a local restaurant via Uber Eats in a seven-minute-long TikTok. He says he utilized a feature that Uber Eats offers, which allows customers to order something else within 10 minutes to avoid paying an extra delivery charge from another location. So he not only ordered a pizza from the local establishment, but also a banana pudding from Magnolia Bakery.
He says that he was intently watching his Uber Eats app because he was “f*cking starving” and saw the delivery person bike to the location, counting down the minutes until he could dine on the soon-to-be-delivered feast.
Unfortunately, that meal never came.
“I’m waiting, he’s around the corner I’m excited I went downstairs, like…honestly it was desperate,” he says, laughing. “I pull up and he’s taking forever to lock his bike.”
Adeib says the man, who doesn’t speak English, walked up to him with his goods, but the only item that the man handed over was the dessert from Magnolia Bakery.
Puzzled, Adeib says he asked the delivery driver where his pizza was. The delivery driver didn’t speak English and he ended up opening his Google Translate app to be able to speak to Adeib. Adeib finds out that the restaurant refused to give the driver the pizza because he did not have the right “facilities.”
The delivery person assured him another Uber Eats driver would be bringing him his pizza and that he should just enjoy his cake.
Once back upstairs with his order marked as “completed,” Adeib says he decided to call the pizza restaurant to see what happened.
The restaurant worker who answered the phone recognized him and told Adeib that he didn’t give the driver the pizza because it would’ve been a “risk” due to the dimensions of the pie. He also allegedly told him that since the delivery person was on a bike, the pizza could “shift” and “ebb and flow” inside of the box, resulting in a less-than-stellar pizza-eating experience.
Adeib says he told the man that he doesn’t care if the next delivery driver is on a “camel” or a “horse” or a “rat” but that the restaurant should give them the pizza regardless because he’ll take his chances of it ebbing and flowing—he just wanted the pizza delivered to his apartment.
“He’s like, ‘Are you sure? At your own risk?’” Adeib recalls the worker telling him.
“At my own risk,” Adeib resoundingly told him. Satisfied that the restaurant was going to follow his instructions, the TikToker placed another order for the pizza and was promptly assigned a new delivery driver, a woman he called “Sarah.” He says that he watched Sarah, just as he did the first driver, make her way to the pizza shop. After probably thinking he was in the clear upon her arrival, he saw that she lingered in the same spot for five minutes.
At that point, he receives a phone call from the driver, who places Adeib on speakerphone with the restaurant owner. “Oh my God,” the TikToker says to himself in disbelief that this much drama is being caused over a single pizza pie.
“I just wanted to tell you she neither has the space nor the facilities to take this pizza,” the man allegedly informs Adeib, again making an executive decision about the meal’s delivery status.
Adeib says that even though he was “holding back a laugh” over the situation, he questioned why the eatery was “holding [his] pizza hostage.”
“The pizza, the cheese will get stuck to the top of the box,” the restaurant owner protested on the other line, but Adeib said that he didn’t care and still wanted it.
At this point, Adeib says he had to repeat the following phrase back to the owner: “I, at my own risk, will take the pizza on a bike.” Finally, the owner let the pizza go where it needed to and Adeib was able to enjoy his pizza in peace after it was delivered by a peeved-off Sarah.
“Like you know what hurts too? The pizza slapped! The pizza was so good,” Adeib concludes. “The pizza was so good. That’s what p*ssed me off so much. Like how dare you have good pizza after all of that…now I’m gonna have to go pick it up myself next time on foot or a bike just to be spiteful.”
Commenters were shocked by just how seriously the pizza store owner took his food’s delivery. One person wrote, “Everyone was so stressed in this story, the owner is definitely having nightmares about that pizza flying around a highway.”
One joked that the pizzeria owner might have a problem with Adeib even attempting to walk and pick up the pizza while on foot. “I’m not sure picking it up on foot has the correct facilities the pizza might ebb and flow while you walk,” they said.
But some thought that the man’s careful attention to detail is probably what contributed to his pizza being as good as it is. “His pizza slaps because you can tell this man has thought of everything, even the delivery after it left the store,” a user wrote. “Honestly, that’s cool lol.”
According to Pizza Oven Reviews, there are some fundamental guidelines pizza deliverers are encouraged to follow in the transportation of pies. Insulated thermal bags are encouraged, as is leaving the food as flat as possible during the ride to its destination.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Uber Eats and Adeib via email for further comment.
