Schneider's glasses

Stalking food

Vorarlberg author Robert Schneider wonders about a trend that is currently gaining ground in the USA and has already arrived in Europe. It's all about revenge and nasty jokes - and lots of food.  

It's just before 10 p.m. when Mrs. Donovan's doorbell rings. We are in Levittown in Bucks County (Pennsylvania), a suburb of Philadelphia. It is one of those typical American settlements with concrete sidewalks and smoothly mowed lawns, where all the houses somehow look the same. Mrs. Donovan, who is single, thinks to herself: Well, who else is ringing the doorbell at this time of night? She opens the kitchen window.

There is a delivery man at the front door, ready to deliver a huge family pizza. Mrs. Donovan suspects that the courier has got the house number wrong, but he persists. "Is this your phone number?" he asks, reading it off the order. Mrs. Donovan says yes. Now the pizza delivery man wants his money.

The elderly lady has become the victim of a "stalking order". This has been a trend among young people in the USA for some time, fueled by TikTok. People order food from a delivery service, often in large quantities, in order to "stalk" the recipient. Attempted deliveries and the resulting loud anger are then secretly filmed on cell phones and posted on social networks.

"Stalking food" has of course long since reached the continent. Alexander Tauer, CEO of the German supply chain Domino's Pizza, knows a thing or two about it, as he told ZEIT-Online (21. 10. 2024). "Recently, we had a case where several delivery men met in front of a woman's door. Apparently, her ex-boyfriend had sent them there at the same time to annoy her." Because fake orders have become a running joke, Mr. Tauer would like to switch to credit card payment in advance. "Many customers don't want that," he sums up resignedly.

My doorbell rings. It's the pizza service. I haven't ordered anything, but I'm hungry.