Doctor Orders Catering, Shows up Six Hours Late, Then Complains the Food Isn’t Hot

As a basic rule of food safety, it’s never a good idea to leave food out for several hours at room temperature, as it puts the food at risk of developing bacteria and becoming hazardous to your health. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that you should never leave perishable food (i.e., food that needs to be refrigerated) out at room temperature for more than two hours, and no more than one hour if the outside temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

But either the doctor at the center of a now-viral TikTok didn’t understand that concept, or he simply expected the restaurant to accommodate him six hours past his scheduled catering pickup time. According to TikToker @ambryrae, a doctor placed a catering order for 12 p.m. but showed up six hours late, then acted confused about why his food wasn’t hot. If that’s doesn't scream entitlement, I don’t know what does. Let’s get into it!

TikToker @ambryrae wasted no time jumping into an experience she had at work involving a catering order, and the doctor who placed it but showed up six hours late to collect it. The problem is, he never called to confirm he’d be late or to reschedule the pickup time, yet still expected his food to be hot.

The TikToker, who goes by Kellie, says that after waiting about 25 to 30 minutes for someone to pick up the order, she called the number listed on the contact card to let them know their order was ready. No answer, so she left a message. When 1 p.m. rolled around, an hour past the scheduled pickup time, she called again. Still no answer, so she left another message.

After about an hour and a half had passed, she contacted her GM and got the green light to put the order in the walk-in fridge, because now they were nearing that two-hour danger zone of having food sit out too long.

Anyway, 6 p.m. rolls around and, lo and behold, the doctor finally shows up. When she greets him, she lets him know the food is cold because she couldn’t risk leaving it out for six hours. And it’s a good thing she didn’t. To her surprise, though, the doctor seemed genuinely shocked by this.

Turns out, he had rescheduled the luncheon the food was for but never contacted the restaurant to adjust the pickup time. After she explained that a heads-up would’ve allowed them to prep the food closer to when it was needed, he still didn’t understand why the food was cold.

She reminded him that the order was for 12 p.m., and he showed up at 6 p.m., which means there would be no safe way to keep food hot for that long. He responded with, "Well, why not? This is a restaurant."

After some back and forth — him asking for the food to be remade, her explaining it would need to be paid for again — he hit her with, "You know, I’m a doctor. What you’re doing isn’t rocket science. I expect it to be hot." And it would have been, had he shown up on time or at least contacted the restaurant to adjust the pickup.

Alas, it seems the doctor expected the restaurant to keep his food warm indefinitely, without considering they needed the warmers for other patrons dining in. Whether it’s entitlement or sheer lack of common sense, I’m not sure which fits this doctor’s attitude better.