You’d assume that “don’t eat food you found on the road” would be common knowledge, but police officers in Alabama still had to make that point clear. To be fair, it’s not every day that a road would be littered with chicken nuggets.
After an 18-wheeler crashed, a bunch of chicken flew off the truck and made quite a scene. And yes, motorists made the traffic even worse after trying to gather some of the chicken to take home.
But that’s not the worst of it — people were still grabbing the free chicken after it had been out for a long time. So not only was it road chicken, but it was road chicken that had been outdoors for hours, exposed to the elements. It’s hard to imagine people flocking to the scene of the accident for a quick and hazardous lunch, but then again, not many of us have actually witnessed a chicken tender truck’s demise in person. Who knows what you may be tempted to do when opportunity strikes?
The problem was so bad that the Cherokee County Emergency Management Agency posted a PSA on Facebook advising people to stay away. As expected, it was shared pretty quickly.
“The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office is asking that no one try to stop to get the chicken tenders that were spilled from the 18 wheeler accident last night on Highway 35,” they wrote. “You’re creating a traffic hazard! It’s a crime to impede the flow of traffic.”
They also posted it on Twitter, just to make sure everyone heard.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT|
— Cherokee County EMA (@cherokee_ema) January 7, 2019
The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office is asking that no one try to stop to get the chicken tenders that were spilled from the 18 wheeler accident last night on Highway 35.
Those... https://t.co/HPNyTin3Gc
As imagined, people couldn’t help but joke. It is pretty hilarious.
— Shari (@sharilynn0908) January 7, 2019
The reason why it took so long for them to clean up? Between it happening on a highway and causing a bunch of commotion, it was hard to safely clear the area. But clean up is currently underway, and things should be back to normal soon.
Cleanup of the Chicken on AL Hwy 35 is underway. It took coordination to be able to close Hwy 35 down to one lane to allow the cleanup to be done safely. Cleanup should be complete in a couple of hours. Stay safe!
— Cherokee County EMA (@cherokee_ema) January 7, 2019
Accidents are never good, but this is one of the few times that a truck flipping has caused people to laugh out loud.
Now you tell me.
— Timeline Observer (@killahnola) January 7, 2019
Im a good boy, I'll eat my tendies any way I want
— Nick-At-Day (@GreatSwordNH) January 7, 2019
Plus, the fact that the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office had to reiterate the fact that stealing the chicken was a crime didn’t help things.
What's the charge? Fowl play?
— Bobby Unagi 🇵🇭 🇩🇪 | 🇯🇵 (@CykoDad408) January 7, 2019
Craving some of your own chicken goodness?
At the very least, the chicken was still in its original packaging. The only thing worse than eating chicken off the road is eating loose chicken off the road.
The problem is, it’s so hard to find someone out there who isn’t a fan of chicken tenders — especially when paired with a honey mustard dipper.
Plus, they can be eaten so many ways. Just toss some buffalo sauce on a chicken tender, and you have a completely different meal.
Who knows if people would have had the same reaction if something boring, like frozen vegetables, fell off the truck?
