We all know that you shouldn’t call 911 unless there’s a genuine emergency. But this five-year-old kid didn’t get the memo.
Charlie Skabelund used his father’s cellphone to call the emergency services to order a McDonald’s Happy Meal. The child from Mesa, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona, spoke to the dispatcher and gave his order. Afterwards, his father, Randy, phoned again to say that his son had taken his cellphone, and confirmed that there was no emergency.
Even so, a police officer turned up shortly after for a welfare check, and actually brought Charlie his Happy Meal. The officer in question, Randolph ‘Scott’ Valdez, gave the boy advice on when it’s the right time to call 911, and even spent the time to take some photos with him, which were then shared by his department on Facebook.
The City of Mesa Police Department released the audio of the call, in which dispatcher Anthony Bonilla asks Charlie if he has an emergency. After answering “One McHappy Meal”, Charlie hangs up the phone – he wanted to know if he was speaking to McDonald’s!
Charlie’s mother, Kim, said that Officer Valdez “was really sweet”, explaining how to use the emergency services number, and revealed that Charlie had also ordered food for his sister, six-year-old Jadyn.
Calling 911
Charlie has an excuse for ringing the police, of course. He’s only in kindergarten. But what about adults who phone the emergency services for no good reason? Last year, a Canadian dispatch service uncovered the top ten worst reasons for people calling 911.
Somebody actually phoned up to complain that a fast-food outlet wasn’t open 24 hours a day like advertised. Another customer complained that a restaurant wouldn’t accept their coupon. Perhaps the most ridiculous call of all was from the member of the public who contacted the police to check whether the clocks were due to move forward or back in the Spring. It’s not just the public who do this either – a traffic inspector gave a woman a parking ticket for this reason!
Have you heard of any other weird reasons why people have called 911 or the emergency services? Let us know!
