‘Never forget…. Even on vacation’: Couple discovers a charming Italian food joint that serves up its spring rolls in extremely off-putting packaging

An American couple has gone viral on TikTok after the restaurant they visited while on vacation served their food in highly inappropriate packaging. The 19-second clip, uploaded by Alyssa Marcantel (username @alyssamouton), starts with the camera facing Alyssa. She tells viewers that she and her partner are in Italy, at a restaurant, and her exasperated but morbidly amused expression makes it clear something’s not quite right.

She then turns the camera to face her partner, whose expression mirrors hers, explaining that the spring rolls they ordered have come wrapped in newspaper. But it’s not just any old newspaper. Oh no, it’s a newspaper bearing the story from Sep. 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked planes and flew them into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

It was one of the worst disasters in United States history, so serving food in a newspaper adorned with the story is terrible, regardless of how you look at it. Serving it to two Americans is hideous! The clip has, rather predictably, garnered a significant response from TikTok users wanting to have their say about it.

How did TikTok react?

There is, of course, humor to be found in most situations, and that was undoubtedly evident in the comments.

Several people made references to the often-used term “never forget,” with comments like “Never forget… even on vacation lol,” “They literally won’t let us forget,” “Never Forghetti,” and “They really said NEVERUH 🤌 FORGETAH 🤌.”

Others referenced the infamous moment when George W. Bush was informed about the second tower being struck on 9/11, writing things like “”Mr president, they’ve eaten the second roll”,” “a second spring roll has hit the menu,” “”Sir, a second egg roll has hit the stomach.”,” and “A second spring roll just entered my mouth.”

Several people suggested it was intentional on the part of the restaurant, commenting things like, ““Antonio get the American papers we have tourists”,” “That feels pointed they said Americans having a good time on vacation not on my watch lol,” “Aw they wanted to give you a piece of home,” and “THAT HAS TO BE ON PURPOSE.”

A few people referenced their similar experiences, with stories like, “I had the EXACT SAME paper in Italy at a pizza place,” “No because I got chicken nuggets in Germany that came in a box covered in newspaper clippings about John Lennon dying and Paul being a fake,” and “When I was in Cancun, they used a newspaper article about devastating forest fires in the US to wrap my souvenirs. I was like ???”

Other notable comments included, “They really said “Our tower might be leaning but it’s still up”,” “spring rolls must be da bomb,” “This feels like a hate crime,” “i’m so glad i’m here before this blows up,” “They could’ve made it top tier by charging $9.11,” and “…..was that….personal?”

Meanwhile, someone simply said, “I rate this a 9 out of 11.”

Per the 9/11 Memorial & Museum website, 2,977 people lost their lives as a result of the 9/11 attacks. Even though humor can be found in the inappropriateness of the situation in this video, it may be a good idea for the restaurant’s owners to rethink their packaging as a matter of respect.