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911 Operators Break Down The Strangest Calls They've Ever Received

911 Operators Break Down The Strangest Calls They've Ever Received
Image by F. Muhammad from Pixabay

Apparently, some people missed the lesson about how calling 911 should be reserved only for absolute emergencies.


There are apparently plenty of adults out here thinking the 911 line is a much more casual source for help. These people call for offhand questions, minor gripes with a neighbor, even just a touch personal decision.

Don't get me wrong: there's nothing wrong with reaching out for help. But maybe don't clog up the emergency line.

After all, what if a pressing issue cropped up at the exact same moment?

Redditor Atoms_Apple asked:

"What is the pettiest reason someone has called 911?"

Many people decide to call 911 when they're in a logistical jam. Quick PSA: the ambulance is not a free taxi.

The Jig's Up

"Not a dispatcher but when I was in EMS we were dispatched to a psych call. When we got there this lady was standing out side her house ready to go to the hospital."

"On the way to the hospital I was talking to her and trying to get her vitals when she told me there was nothing wrong with her that she heard a family member was in the hospital and needed a ride, so she called 911. Cops met us at the hospital for her."

-- Crimson_Leader

Direct Line

"I work for small police station but once had 911 put through a caller who then requested that I patch them through to a pizza place so they could order pizza from a 911 only cellphone..."

-- vtphoenix22

Here's Good

"I've been called to make a bed."

"Another one of my units was called to a drunk guy at a bar for 'trouble breathing' said he was looking for a ride into the city. Almost to the hospital he refused care and transport and got out and went where he wanted to go. It's endless"

-- Sad_Comfortable_0825

A Free Show

"I had a guy call 911 just because he wanted to see fire trucks and ambulances with lights and sirens. He miscalculated."

"There was a cop too...and he was not amused. Dude spent the night in jail."

-- the_Blind_Samurai

Priorities of That Age

"I tutored a 2nd grader many years ago for extra money. There was some assignment where the question was about when it is okay to call 911 and the kid (seriously) told me that it's you forgot to bring your homework to school."

-- BlueGrotta

Some people just ask for information. It's startling, especially given that the internet has way more information than the poor worker on the other end of the phone line.

An Eye for Design

"I received a call on the non emergency line from a 90-something year old lady asking me what lamp she should put in her bedroom. I told her I did not understand and that the sheriff's office was not the correct place to ask."

"Eventually she got upset and said 'Fine I'll call 911, they'll help me there!' I tried to tell her that 911 would just go back to me and it was a misuse of an emergency line, but it was too late."

"15 seconds later 911 rings, I answer and lo and behold it was the lady asking 'what lamp should I get for my bedroom?' "

-- WesphaliaReformer

Parents Explain Why They Regret The Name They Gave Their Child | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

Seasonal Emergency

"Not me, but a close family friend worked taking 911 calls for years. She said the number of calls they get about how to cook turkeys at Thanksgiving time is just baffling."

-- JonnyBoomBots

Eyes in the Sky

"To complain we had the road closed. Then asked when it would open. Then asked if they could squeeze through. No, you can't."

-- leg00b

And some people call 911 when they can handle the rage they feel. Unfortunately, many adults can't seem to work out their differences, so they bring in the big guns.

Well, Not Always Adults

"A classmate of mine in 6th grade called 911 because he lost to his sister in Hungry Hungry Hippoes" -- Ok_Entrepreneur_6942

"I didn't see the 'to' before 'his sister' and I thought it was an extremely high stakes game of Hungry Hungry Hippos" -- Disastrous_Toe_Jam

A Cherished Phone

"8 or 9 years ago, my husband and I had a couple of acquaintances over for dinner one night. They were from our local poker group."

"The 4 of us were having a great time when one of the guys accidentally knocked over the other guy's phone and cracked its screen."

"The second guy went mental. He started yelling at the first guy and demanded that he pay to repair the screen. The second guy agreed to it but the first guy kept yelling and yelling. He called 911 and the cops came."

"He told the cops that the second guy broke his phone and he wanted to file a police report. He asked the cops to force the second guy to give him money to repair his phone. The cops were so confused and annoyed. We were mortified because it happened at our house and the cops knew our landlord."

"We never invited him to our house again."

-- lonedandelion

A Laundry List of Rage

"People who get cut off in traffic are probably the worst inane callers. Like, 'Oh so this happened three hours ago, you don't remember the road it happened on, you don't know the registration of the VOI, there was no traffic crash, and there is not even the insinuation that either party involved were under influence of substances?' "

"Noise complaints are similar."

"People calling the emergency line to complain about being arrested earlier (one once complaining about being charged for abusing the emergency line)."

"I've had a woman call emergency because their sister was refusing to share their food, at a cinema."

"But what is probably more insane is the serious incidents that are started by inane and petty things - once had a serious FDV between a mother and daughter - the mother stabbed the daughter after an argument over the colour of cupcake batter."

-- iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiUUUUUU

Some People Just Love Conflict

"I once had the cops called on me by my neighbor. There was a car parked on the street by his backyard. Not blocking his parking space in front of his house, not on his property, not inconveniencing him in any way. It was not my car or that of anybody I knew."

"Same neighbor called the cops on me for animal abuse. My dog was in my fenced in backyard with a bowl of food and a bucket of water in the shade. Told the cops I chained him up all day and night with no food. I showed the cops the pup and was just like why would I chain up a dog in a fenced in yard?"

"Same neighbor called the cops on me for 'verbal assault' when he knocked on my door and said it was against the law to leave my trash can by the road a day after pick up and I told him to f**k off and closed the door."

"The weird thing is I never did anything to the guy to get him to start this and from what I asked the other neighbors he didn't do that to them."

-- No-Umpire4788

Food-Themed Spats

"There's too many."

"I once got a call from a family of frequent flyers… a husband's wife ordered the wrong topping on a pizza, so they got in an argument and then she threw a ham sandwich at his head."

"Another time a call came from a woman who just got out of church and the drivethru to KFC was too long… and she wanted an officer to come out and help … 🤦🏻♀️"

"Fun times …"

-- karalynn1982

At Her Own Risk

"Not an operator, but a female customer once called the cops on my coworkers for scaring her too much."

"We work at a haunted house..."

-- Undecided_User_Name

Kept Trying

"When I was 5 I called 911 because my mom threw away some leftover McDonald's fries I had saved from the day before."

"When I was 4 I called 911 because my mom threw away some old toys of mine."

"Damn cops didn't arrest her either time 🤣"

-- Soonerpalmetto88

Thankfully, these are the worst of the worst. Here's hoping 911 operators are usually able to focus on what matters.

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Things People Secretly Love But Would Never Admit To In Public

Reddit user sweet_chick283 asked: 'What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?;

Collection of VHS tapes
Bruno Guerrero/Unsplash

What makes us all unique is our passions and the things we love, whether it's singing in the shower, reading books, or listening to specific music artists.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where we are judged for our various tastes and interests thanks to social media, and it makes us consciously selective about sharing the things we love on the internet.

Curious to hear about people's personal desires under anonymity, Redditor sweet_chick283 asked:

"What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?"

These aren't really chores for the following Redditors.

Good Clean Fun

"Mopping, im a janitor and generally hate my work... but damn mopping is so good."

– MrDDog06

"When you have a great rhythm going it is something special. I get the same feeling while I vacuum, but won’t let my wife know I enjoy it."

– Bogus_34

Act Of Unwrinkling

"Ironing clothes. A dozen of them. Can’t explain how it relaxes me. I told one person and they looked at me like I’m crazy."

– eerie_white_glow

"My mum misses the days when dad would be out on a Friday night, my brother out with friends and me upstairs quietly playing PS1. She would pour herself a Bacardi & Coke and do the ironing while watching her TV shows."

"I'm sure she doesn't really miss it now that we've moved out and they've retired but it was her wind-down after a busy working week so I can see how people can find it relaxing."

– xdq

Our solo actions can spark joy.

Big Brother Is Watching

"pretending to be on the Truman show and whenever im in my house i act all inconspicuous so they dont know that i know that they’re watching me."

– Bec_121

"C’mon man, you’re not supposed to let him know. You signed a contract when signing up for live views. I’m reporting you."

– doeswaspsmakehoney

The Multi-Tasker

"Playing video games naked at home while eating cheese."

– thickening_agent

Releasing The Kraken

"I love the feeling when you've eaten good fibre and let out a solid long train log in the toilet. That feeling is heavenly."

– therapoootic

"Even better when it’s a clean wipe and not a poo crayon."

– TheWarmestHugz

Ultimate Comfort

"My (male 41) weekend routine is coming home from work, make hot chocolate, start a fire, dress in a ugly pink nightgown made for old ladies and watch forensic files."

– crazyloomis

Some people are obsessed with collecting things.

So Kawai

"Sanrio stationery stores. All those different multicolor pens, a thousand kinds of erasers, spiral bound notebooks galore... my kids sadly have absolutely no appreciation for this wonderland..."

– HavingNotAttained

It's A Staple

"Office supplies have a weird, special place in my heart ever since I was a kid. They don't even have to be 'cute' necessarily."

"Japan's legendary stationery stores is unironically a reason I want to go."

– _CozyLavender_

Not Caring Anymore

"The older I get the shorter that list gets. Not because I love less things, but because I don't care about hiding it."

– Bi-Beast

"YES!! I'm 53 now. I'm working my first job in public since 2006. Today is Halloween and we're allowed to dress up so I am sitting here waiting to go to work dressed as a VERY bad Wednesday Addams. My bf said I'd 'look stupid' because no one else will probably dress up and I'm like, 'WHO CARES!' My makeup looks horrible and not like I practiced, but I DO NOT CARE! I'm having fun with it anyhow and I don't care if my coworkers dress up or not. I'm bein' ME! :)"

– deanie1970

Honorable mentions start here.

The Savior

"Picking up worms from the street and sidewalks when it rains and moving them into the dirt so they don’t burn in the sun, every time it rains I do this."

– sky_kitten89

Hero Of The Moment

"Yoooo I scoot SO many snails and worms. I work as a tech/mechanic at an automotive shop, I had a peoject car towed to my house the other day and it was covered in snails. I saw them when the tow guy/coworker was unloading and I was like, 'oh! It comes with free snails!' and began moving them. He laughed then realized and said, '... Oh, you're serious. Uh... Okay.'"

"I don't care who knows it. These little things barely can look out for themselves, why shouldn't we if we can take a moment to help? I don't care what happens next, it probably doesn't matter overall but I can help this moment."

– chris14020

Why should some of the hidden desires mentioned above have to be secret?

Redditors opening up about some of these would make them a hit at parties–no shaming.

As a matter of fact, I'll totally be down for a Forensic Files viewing party where we all make hot chocolate, light the fireplace, and cozy up together in our respective pink ugly nightgowns for old ladies.

historical reenactors
Sigmund on Unsplash

We've probably all heard some variation of the saying "Truth is stranger than fiction."

Real life isn't just strange, it can also be downright ridiculous.

History is riddled with moments of absurdity.

So ridiculous that people have a hard time believing real life is, well, really real.

Keep reading...Show less