Pot Made Our Pizza Late: A Dinner Time Saga

Maybe we should have expected the enormous wait time for our New Year’s Day pizza dinner to arrive given the new legal status of a particular plant.

Yesterday at my in-laws, we ordered from a pretty popular pizza joint. We ordered the deep dish and were aware those take a long time to cook, so we were very much prepared for the 60-90 minute wait time.

But 90 mins came and went. “Where is our pizza,” we all wondered. “Should we call?”

We did indeed call. The employee who answered sounded a bit frantic on the phone. She told us our pizza was ready and waiting in the warmer, but things are very backed up and delivery would be another hour or so.

WHAT?!

The employee was honest with us and told us it would be better to just come pick it up at this point.

OK, fine. Pretty bad day at the old pizza place, no problem. It happens.

My father-in-law and I scurry the two miles to the pizzeria. When we arrive, we find at least a dozen people in the same situation we are. The manager addressed everyone in the lobby, apologizing for the long wait times and telling us they are doing everything they can.

That didn’t stop one delightful woman from very loudly voicing her displeasure with the situation. She not-so-calmly explained to the minimum-wage employee that she had ordered online specifically to avoid this situation (as we all did…), and that it’s unacceptable to have to wait this long.

The manager stepped in at this point and calmly explained that everyone had ordered online, they were short staffed in both cooks and drivers, so please be patient. He even used a rather spot-on “if everyone uses the expressway, it gets jammed” comparison. He even offered to comp her meal.

The woman was not satisfied, and continued to complain. At this point, my father-in-law standing feet away at the same counter, rightfully inserted himself into the situation, coming to the managers defense:

FIL: “He is giving you a free pizza here, what more are you looking for?”

Lady: “Excuse me, are you listening to our conversation?!”

FIL: “Actually, we are all listening to your conversation, you are screaming for no reason.”

Lady, realizing there is no more complaining left to do, sat down at the bar in a huff.

Nicely played, pops!

Back to our pizza — turns out, it’s actually NOT in the warmers ready to be picked up. It’s our for delivery!

OK, so back home we go, fully expecting our family to be enjoying lukewarm stuffed sausage pizza. That was not the case. As a matter of fact, our family thought it was a joke when we arrived pizzaless, as if for some reason we’d be hiding it just for a laugh. Not the case. There really was no pizza!

We called the store again and inquired about our missing pizza pie that was floating somewhere in the universe. They told us that it was indeed out for delivery now.

Five minutes later we receive a phone call from the delivery driver. “Hey, I’m outside your door with the pizza!”

Spoiler alert: no she wasn’t.

We opened the door to an empty patio. But, over yonder across the street, a lone pizza delivery driver stood at a neighbor’s door.

My father, with a loud whistle, gained her attention and loudly but politely instructed her to come to this side of the street.

As it turns out, it wasn’t her fault! The address on the printed instructions was not correct.

How did the wrong address appear on the printed receipt? Was it the employee’s fault or my father’s for incorrectly entering it into the online ordering system? The world may never know.

To be fair, the pizza place did the right thing and gave my FIL a $50 in-store credit. That was the right move.

So, why was this particular pizza place so backed up? Is New Year’s Day always a super popular night for pizza? Were they understaffed via a mistake from management? Did employees just not show up for their shift?

Or…did the entire population within their delivery zone get the legal-weed-induced munchies at the exact same time?!

I blame pot.