An unsatisfied customer decided to involve the police when a Louisiana Taco Bell ran out of taco shells.
The unnamed individual allegedly called the police to complain that a Taco Bell in Slidell, Louisiana, was “out of both hard and soft taco shells,” the Slidell Police Department wrote on their Facebook page on June 3.
The police department also used the opportunity to remind the community that while they are there to serve the community, dealing with a taco shell shortage is out of their hands.
“It’s been a while, but another ‘we can’t make this stuff up’ story,” the police department wrote on Facebook.
“Somebody called in to complain that the Taco Bell on Gause Boulevard ran out of both hard and soft taco shells,” the police department wrote. “While this is truly a travesty, the police can’t do anything about this.”
The police ended the post with: “Hopefully, they are replenished in time for Taco Tuesday!”
The Facebook went viral with several people taking to the comments.
“Sounds like that customer was in Taco Hell not Taco Bell,” one person commented.
“This is a tragedy! We are talking mass starvation since people can longer cook for themselves!” another person wrote. “It totally warrants an emergency call.”
“Hey, I would’ve reported it too, cause that’s a crime!!” another commented, adding a series of laughing emojis.
YO QUIERO TACO BELL: Just when you thought you heard it all… woman calls Slidell Police when @tacobell ran out of hard and soft shells ????????♂️ pic.twitter.com/efmAIHX80c
— Gerron Jordan (@GerronJordan) June 5, 2019
History of Tacos
While the origins of the taco are unknown, Jeffrey M. Pilcher, a professor of history at the University of Minnesota and author of several Mexican food books, said tacos date back to the eighteenth century.
“My theory is that it dates from the 18th century and the silver mines in Mexico, because in those mines the word ‘taco’ referred to the little charges they would use to excavate the ore. These were pieces of paper that they would wrap around gunpowder and insert into the holes they carved in the rock face,” he said in an interview with the Smithsonian in 2012.
He added that tacos do have a striking resemblance to sticks of dynamite.
“The first references [to the taco] in any sort of archive or dictionary come from the end of the 19th century. And one of the first types of tacos described is called tacos de minero—miner’s tacos,” he said.
The taco first appeared in the United States in the 20th century, according to Pilcher.
“The first mention that I have seen [in the U.S.] is in 1905, in a newspaper. That’s a time when Mexican migrants are starting to come—working the mines and railroads and other such jobs,” he added.
Tacos are originally made with soft shells. It wasn’t until 1947 that the first hard shell taco was invented as a way to solve the problem of how perishable soft shells were.
