Keith Stonehouse was quick to realize what was going on once he put two and two together.
Mason, who is only 6 years old, is the only person who could have possibly placed the flurry of takeout orders that were fulfilled and delivered to his doorway on Saturday night.
Even though he had not placed any orders through the Grubhub app, he continued to receive text messages informing him that his order was being prepared and that it had been delivered. These messages read, respectively, “Your order is being prepared” and “Your order has been delivered.”
When the father of the Chesterfield, Michigan, child let his son use his phone to play a game before bedtime, the boy used the opportunity to place approximately $1,000 worth of Grubhub orders from several local restaurants. The father did not notice that this had occurred.
“Why did you do this?” Stonehouse, who was the only parent at home at the time, inquired with his son, who was hiding underneath his comforter at the time.
Mason’s response was simply, “I don’t know.” “I had a hungry stomach.”
When Mason’s father was in the middle of correcting him for something, all Mason wanted to know was whether or not the pepperoni pizzas had arrived yet. (The pizzas did not survive the journey. The father, who is 43 years old, told The Washington Post that Stonehouse’s bank refused the fraudulent $439 order because they believed it to be fraudulent.
Stonehouse remarked that in order to “keep stepping out of [his] room and calming myself down,” she was forced to do so multiple times. “You want to yell at your son, but he’s only 6 years old,” you tell yourself.
According to Stonehouse, the “real talk” with Mason didn’t take place until the following morning because he and his wife wanted to wait until then. Stonehouse said that both of them explained to him that he had essentially stolen from his father and that he would have to pay for some of the ice cream, hot dogs, chili cheese fries, and jumbo shrimp with the $150 that he had saved up in his piggy bank. Stonehouse told The Post that he had to do this.
Stonehouse explained, “We showed him each one individually.” “He was a little upset, but he understood,” the speaker said.
According to Stonehouse, the food was saved and did not end up being wasted. The family decided to have dinner with some of their other relatives. A nearby resident made the generous offer to purchase all of the jumbo shrimp orders. And according to Stonehouse, they are continuing to consume the leftovers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Mason, on the other hand, is not permitted to consume any of it in any form. Stonehouse is quoted as saying, “We didn’t want to glorify this to him.” “This is not a joke,” the speaker said.
It’s possible not for at least ten years. According to Stonehouse, the family has joked about purchasing the exact order for Mason’s graduation party or wedding after-party in the past.
The child is still dealing with the effects of the choices he made, at least for the time being.
“Do I have to start [my piggy bank] all over again?” Recently, Mason questioned his own father.
“Yes, Mason,” Stonehouse answered. “Sometimes in life when you make a mistake you have to start all over.”