Someone called the police to complain that Taco Bell had run out of tacos

If you’re ordering lunch at a restaurant with “taco” in the title, you should be able to guarantee at least one thing that will be on the menu. Anyone who names their restaurant after an ingredient and then refuses to serve it is either incompetent or engaged in some highly complex and questionable marketing reverse psychology. As Taco Bell managed to prove this week, the answer is almost always the former.

However, while running out of your signature dish is never a good sign, some customers can overreact. In a dramatic turn of events, the Slidell Police Department reported that they received a complaint from a frazzled Floridian, who demanded that they do something about a lack of tacos at her local Taco Bell. The department allege that the woman, who is yet to be identified, dialled 911 in desperation after the restaurant in Gause Boulevard had run out of both hard and soft taco shells. While the situation was obviously serious, one has to wonder whether it warrants the involvement of the law.

According to a post on the department’s Facebook page, officers were just as perplexed as the plaintiff. On June 3rd, the department wrote, “It’s been a while, but another ‘we can’t make this stuff up’ story. Somebody called in to complain that the Taco Bell on Gause Boulevard ran out of both hard and soft taco shells. While this is truly a travesty, the police can’t do anything about this. Hopefully, they are replenished in time for Taco Tuesday!” It’s unclear whether this was a satisfactory outcome for the angry customer.

Incredibly, this isn’t the first time that unhappy fast food enthusiasts have contacted the police over an ingredient shortage. Last year, police across the United Kingdom called officers in desperation after KFC ran out of chicken, begging the question how well we handle a tanked economy after a no-deal Brexit.

Similarly, a woman called cops in 2009 after being informed that her local McDonald’s was out of nuggets, telling officers, “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.” Getting this frustrated over fast food might seem daft, but, as any true fan will tell you, it can be much more serious than it seems.