People call 911 for a variety of reasons, but it turns out some calls are for very strange reasons.
Some people call 911 to report burglaries, home invasions, or an emergency in Nakatomi tower. Others call because they lost a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos or for a Thanksgiving turkey recipe.
An outlandish Reddit thread prompted 911 operators to share the “pettiest” calls they’ve received. There are over a thousand comments, describing stories from the innocent to the absurd.
Lots of the reports were food-related. One operator revealed how a caller once rang up to request ‘the number for Domino’s Pizza,’ while another remembered a woman ‘who just got out of church and the drive thru to KFC was too long… and she wanted an officer to come out and help.’
Another dispatcher recalled:
A very pregnant lady called 911 because the restaurant she ordered from got her order wrong and wouldn’t refund her. She sobbed to me about how she’s pregnant and she just wanted this certain dish. She threw the order of food at the worker, who placed his own 911 call for assault. That probably didn’t work out in her favour.
Some calls were totally weird. One woman called in because ‘her neighbour’s chihuahuas were having sex and she thought that was disgusting.’
One operator talked about over-dramatic kids:
A male called since their mother grounded him from his PS4 but he covered it up and said ‘my mother is trying to hurt me mentally and physically’ but when we arrived we found the truth (it’s funny to think the kid thought we would do something about it).
While this thread provided lots of amusement, calling 911 for trivial matters wastes precious time and resources. To read about some scary, real-life calls, check out more here.
