Friday, September 19, 2008

Darwin Candidate

The fluffy innocent looking bunny in the picture caused a bit of a stir this week. In fact, one woman thought it was nothing less than an emergency. She called the emergency services to complain that the rabbits ears were not floppy, as advertised by the person she bought it from. Discovering this story led me to pose several questions, which accosted my mind in quick succession not least of which was what on earth was going on in her head?

Worryingly this woman isn't alone. Emergency call centre staff have reported cases of people phoning to get telephone numbers and to report getting soaked by a passing car which drove through a puddle! Lordy, if there were ever cases for the Darwin awards then I think these folk are ideal candidates. I never cease to be surprised at how stupid people can be, nor how selfish, as while there is certainly an amusing side to this story, while these selfish and deeply deeply stupid people are having their own personal crisis someone somewhere may be in genuine need of help and not able to get it.

13 comments:

kenju said...

I have heard of some idiotic calls to the emergency services here, Bob-kat, so I know it is not only in the UK it happens. I am glad I am not working for those services, because if someone called to ask me such a dumb thing, I'd lambaste them from here to kingdom come!!

Anonymous said...

Well, yes. I second Judy's remarks.

Recently here, some clown called emergency services because the sandwich shop forgot to put the correct condiments on his order.

Oy vey.

(Although, I could imagine you calling if you accidentally got a take out order of baked beans.)


:)

Cheers, dear.

JAM said...

Stupid calls to emergency services are common. On a slow day, it might not be an issue, but I'd sure hate to know that someone I loved died because some dummy tied up the phone when someone couldn't get through with a real emergency.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

One wonders...Do these people have nothing better to do? As you said, there are so very many serious problems all around..People and Animals who need help.....

There was a story, some time ago, here about some guy calling 911, (Our Emergency Number) to complain about having eaten Brownies that they thought were laced with Cannabis....THOUGHT?? Hello?? And no one was really in any medical distress....!

It makes one wonder, doesn't it?

Hope you are feeling a while lot better than you were, my dear Bob-Kat....

Dianne said...

in my town they call the police for every little thing.

my favorite was a teacher at the HS called the police to report students having a water balloon fight. She wanted them arrested because the water was causing a "dangerous slippery condition" on the gym floor.

A teacher!

Anonymous said...

Truly truly amazing....sometimes you've just gotta laugh BK!

carmilevy said...

When I worked in radio, we used to get similar calls from nutjobs in the newsroom. I often worked the early morning shift - started to write morning news run scripts at 4 am - and I can vouch for some of the idiots who were up at that hour.

Some towns have started 311 services that answer non-emergency questions and requests for help. But I think you can set up all the alternatives in the world and some people will always be too dumb to know the difference.

Sigh...

Melody said...

Sums up what I always say. People are stupid. (But of course that doesn't include you and I and everyone I know and bloggers too of course!)

MaR said...

Unbelievable!

Nikki - Notes of Life said...

I saw that story too. Clearly, either some peoples idea of an emergency isn't quite the same as the average person's idea of an emergency OR they seem to think that 999 will connect them to the police whether it's an emergency or not. I personally think these calls should be traced and the people should either be fined or given community work!

Ramona said...

I haven't been blogging lately.
I just want you to know how sad I am to remember the life of beautiful young girl gone a year ago.
What a lovely photo to be remembered by. I bet you miss her.

Anonymous said...

Just checking in. I trust you're well.

Cheers.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Hope you had a GOOD Sunday, dear B-K...with the chance for a little R&R...! We do need some R&R from time to time...It is good for The Soul!