05 March, 2009

Fast Food - It's an Emergency

Anyone here ever called 999? 000? 911? 112 (or whatever the European number is)?

I have. I called for the fire brigade once. I was just leaving the Alfred Hitchcock pub after having a couple of medicinal G&Ts and some cheese & onion crisps when I noticed what seemed to be a medium sized fire on the land straight opposite. Oooh, I thought, a real emergency. I dialled 999 and a very nice person answered, I told them what I needed to and they sent a nice, shiny fire engine. That was that.

So, what would make you call? A fire? A car accident? Someone having a heart attack? What about if the people at McDonalds took your money and wouldn't give it back?

That's exactly what this woman did. Twenty seven year old Florida resident Latreasa Goodman resorted to calling 911 when a transaction at her local McDonalds failed to go her way. Apparently the cashier took her order for chicken nuggets as well as her cash but refused to refund the money when the nuggets ran out, offering an alternative meal instead.

When told by the police that failure to obtain the junk food hit of her choice was not an emergency, the young chicken fan replied, "This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn't have McNuggets, I wouldn't have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don't want one. This is an emergency."

It wasn't the nuggets, it was the principle. "When you feel that you've been mistreated or misused or robbed out of your money, you have the right to call 911," Goodman opined. "That's the purpose of 911, so I thought."

Sometimes you just can't make it up. She's twenty seven years old and she's using the police in a way that an eight year old would use their mummy. I'm sure I'd be annoyed if the staff wouldn't give me a refund but I'd have to be either wildly hormonal or incredibly stoopid to call the emergency services to sort it out. Imagine the call.

"Help, I need an urgent response from the police. Ronald McDonald has got my $2.50 and he won't give it back. Send a SWAT team and maybe get them to stop by another McDonalds. I need me some chicken nuggets."

Apparently she's facing a fine for inappropriate use of the emergency services. She called 3 times. Three times. Must've been really hungry.

10 comments:

Fen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fen said...

try again....

I had to call 999 in the UK once - hair-raising!

That chicken woman was a crazy lady!!

HH said...

That is crazy!!!!

I have called them once when I was about 15 and home alone from school and a man jumped over the back fence and tried to get in the house. The police then took ages to come as there is another street in my suburb with the same name, except they are a street and I am a road. Also when I had a car accident. That woman is crazy!

Unknown said...

While I can understand the rage associated with thwarted cravings- I have never involved emergency services!
I have called 000 when a frail older woman was hit by a reversing car outside my workplace (she was ok in the end- but had scalp lacerations so it looked awful).

Loving everyone's stories!

Anonymous said...

seriously, what-the-McFugget

Alicia Foodycat said...

I've never called the emergency services. However, if McDonalds took my money and wouldn't give me what I wanted (WTF, by the way) they would need an ambulance.

Sonya said...

Foodycat, if McDonald's took your money I would be very concerned. It would imply that a) you were in a McDonald's and b)you were trying to purchase something there and c) you might try to eat whatever it is they would serve you.

The sad thing is that the crazy woman is probably too stupid to learn that what she did is beyond stupid.

SSS said...

Thanks for the comments, everyone.

I have to also express surprise at the thought of Foodycat in a McDonalds!

NiC said...

Wonderful.

This also makes me realise that I have never phoned 999....whilst my 16 year old daughter has done so twice (for legitimate reasons). I must have had a really sheltered life....and I never go into McDonalds so am missing out on that option.

Alicia Foodycat said...

There are times when even I need a sausage and egg mcmuffin, hash brown and orange juice! But I get my coffee elsewhere.