The user sits directly next to Kevin, the 31-year-old male employee who collects the money and places the order. Despite her repeated attempts to submit her order, Kevin has claimed he either missed her entry or that the order was placed just before she added it. After being excluded again last Wednesday, the user decided to escalate the situation, leading to immediate tension in the workplace. She wonders if her reaction was justified.
I (27F) have been dealing with a petty but annoying situation at my office. Every Wednesday, someone collects orders for this amazing local pizza place that doesn’t deliver. They make the best pizzas in town – wood-fired, fresh ingredients, the works.
The catch is they require a minimum of 5 pizzas for a takeout order.
For the past THREE MONTHS, I keep getting “forgotten” when they take orders. It started when I had to change my lunch hour to 1 PM instead of noon because of project meetings. Every week, I put my order in their shared Excel sheet, and every week they somehow order “just before I added it” or “didn’t see my entry.”
Here’s the kicker – I literally sit right next to Kevin (31M), who collects the money and places the order. He has to physically turn his back to me to avoid seeing me.
Last Wednesday was the last straw. I heard them all planning the order, watched Kevin collect money, and my name was definitely on that spreadsheet. Yet somehow, when the food arrived – no pizza for me.
Kevin’s response? “Oh, sorry, must have missed your name again! We already hit the minimum order though!”
So today, I decided to be petty. I called the pizza place first thing in the morning and spoke to the owner. Explained the situation and asked if I could place a single order for pickup if I paid a little extra.
He laughed and said he liked my style, and agreed.
When everyone’s pizza arrived at 12, I waited. Then at 12:55, right before my lunch, I walked in with a pizza that smelled DIVINE. The owner had made me a special off-menu item with truffle oil, prosciutto, and buffalo mozzarella.
The entire office could smell it.
Suddenly everyone was asking where I got it, since they “thought this place had a 5 pizza minimum?” I just smiled and said “Oh, I have an arrangement with the owner now. By the way, he says hi Kevin!”
Now half the office is mad that I “went behind their backs” to get special treatment, and the other half is mad at Kevin for excluding me all this time. Kevin is especially angry because apparently some people have now asked him to be removed from the order coordinator role.
My pizza was delicious, but there’s definitely tension in the office now. Worth noting that three people have already asked for my “pizza connection” for their own orders.
AITA for escalating a petty pizza situation?
Conclusion
The original poster (OP) reached a point of frustration after months of being intentionally excluded from a group lunch order by a coworker, Kevin. Her action involved bypassing the group dynamic to secure her own lunch directly with the restaurant owner, which resulted in a very public display of her success while simultaneously exposing Kevin’s petty behavior to the rest of the office.
The core conflict lies between the OP’s right to participate in an informal workplace amenity and the coworker’s decision to use that system to exclude her. Was the OP’s calculated escalation an appropriate and effective way to enforce boundaries against persistent exclusion, or did her method create unnecessary and damaging office drama?
Here’s how people reacted:
And if OP has an arrangement now and shares it owner will be pissed off.
Plus what is the owner likes my style. For calling in an order.
**Please prove this. We need a video link of the pizzeria and this arrangement**
Next time you make up a fake story you need to time your fake food order better so it arrives when the fake people are actually fake hungry.
Also, YTA for a fake story
… your style?
of ordering a pizza?
on the phone?
and paying for delivery?
Yeah that’s crazy