How A Misunderstanding Caused One BBQ Restaurant Patron To Call 911
People don't always call 911 for the right reasons. The emergency line is there to help save lives, stop crime, and protect the public. It's not a call you'd make to notify the police of a person in your neighborhood who "stopped at the stop sign for a moment and then they moved on," which is exactly how one person used it. According to a Reddit thread, there are a number of bizarre reasons people will dial 911, especially when it comes to food.
One commenter claimed that a 15-year-old called the cops on his mother, who wouldn't buy him McDonald's. In another case, a man called because lobsters were "being reserved at the local grocery store." A self proclaimed Emergency RN shared that there was a call for an ambulance by someone whose mouth was sore from "eating too much Cap'n Crunch." Many can relate to this one. Ouch!
With all these outlandish 911 calls, it's not out of reach that a 911 operator would get a call from a barbecue joint over some undercooked meat, is it?
Calling 911 for pink meat
Raleigh, North Carolina doesn't appear in the news very often but when it does, it's usually for something positive. It's been labeled as one of the best towns for trick-or-treating and both the Carolinas are known for tasty and unique barbecue.
Sadly, not everyone in North Carolina knows exactly what good barbecue is supposed to look or taste like. Moreover, many don't understand the fine art of smoking meat. TODAY reports that one woman, Annie Cooke, called 911 because the smoked meat she ordered at Clyde Cooper's Barbeque was "pink."
"Oh honey, that is the pink from the smoke," Debbie Holt, owner of Clyde Cooper's told Cooke. The customer insisted that her meat wasn't prepared properly, and both Holt and some patrons tried to explain to Cooke that the food was safe to eat, and would retain its pink color even if it were cooked more. The customer told WRAL NEWS that she felt dismissed, and that is why she really called 911. Either way, being served pink meat is not a crime, and being dismissed is not a life-or-death situation.
This curious case may go to court
"I had ordered some food from there and the barbecue is pink," says the recording of the 911 call (per WRAL NEWS ). The police did come to Clyde Cooper's Barbecue, and Cooke told them that the real issue that caused her to dial 911 was the poor response she received from owner Debbie Holt. TODAY reports that Cooke felt Holt's behavior was dismissive, and her concerns weren't being heard. "That's the reason I called the cops," said Cooke, "Because I couldn't get my money back or I couldn't get a different plate."
Holt claims otherwise and says that Cooke was given chicken and that there is camera footage of her accepting the chicken as a replacement — prior to alerting the authorities to her pink meat. Per WRAL NEWS, Cooke says she was not given a replacement meal, but rather, one piece of chicken in a brown paper bag. The unhappy customer stated that she is considering a civil lawsuit.
As if calling 911 on what was presumed to be undercooked meat wasn't enough fuel on the fire, Cooke left a (now deleted) one-star Google review with a summary of the above events, along with the statement, "worst customer service I ever had in my life." Clyde Cooper's did post a lengthy Facebook post regarding the incident.