Another story that makes me want to beat people

Family lost in Mass. corn maze calls 911 for help

DANVERS, Mass. —

Authorities in Massachusetts say a family that got lost in a seven-acre corn maze called 911 for help, apparently taking advantage of the police department's motto that says "We Want To Be Bothered."

The maze at Connors Farm in Danvers has pathways totaling seven-miles long and can take up to an hour to navigate.  A police officer and his dog entered the maze with a farm manager on Columbus Day to search for the disoriented father, mother and two children, including a three-weeks-old infant. The family didn't realize they had almost made their way out and were just 25 feet from the street.

It took the search party about 10 minutes to find the family. They were helped by a police dispatcher who stayed on the phone with the caller and asked the couple to yell for help to enable those looking for them to identify their location.

"Never again!" the woman is heard telling the dispatcher on police tapes. "We thought this would be fun, instead it's a nightmare."

The family called police for help after sunset, shortly after the farm's closing time.

"Hi I just called, I'm still stuck at Connor's Farms, I don't see anybody I'm really scared, it's really dark and we've got a three-week-old baby with us," the woman is heard on police tapes telling the dispatcher.

Farm Manager Rich Potter said farm workers had not even checked to see if visitors were still making their way through the maze.

Potter said he only became aware that the family was lost in the maze when a police cruiser pulled up and an officer told him that some people had called for help.

It was not clear how long the family had been wandering through the long corn stalks before they called police, farm owner Bob Connors said.

"We were out in the parking lot and we didn't hear them, so they couldn't have been there too long — I think they got frustrated and called (police) on their own," Connors said. "They could see the street lights, they could hear the cars, they couldn't find their way out."

"We don't want to see anybody get lost and panic and call 911," Connors said. "We constructed the maze for people to get lost and have fun, and 99.9 percent of people do have fun getting lost — but it's unfortunate that this party did get lost, it's got to be a positive family experience, that's our goal."

The maze has several guide posts with clues and posters instructing visitors to send text messages to receive additional guidance to help them make their way out.

"There is no way anybody should be stuck on that maze for any reason," Connors said.

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Oh my God!  Another case of Massholes! 

First off, this is from MSNBC.com news but there was no author credited with writing this article.

How old must this "woman" have been to be scared in a dark field?  With her husband right there?  With the street right there?  And civilization right there?

It's not like they were lost in the middle of the woods with no humanity anywhere around.

You know the cops need to be called only when there is a life THREATENING emergency right?

You know you're not supposed to prank call 911 right?

You know getting stuck in a corn maze is not a life threatening emergency, and certainly does not merit calling the cops right?  There is a simple way to get out if it's late at night and you're lost, you just walk in between the corn stalks?  Or you yell until someone that works there notices you.

A lot of corn mazes have some sort of notification system if you do get lost and need help out.  If you pay attention before you go in they usually have some instructions for people in case they do in fact, need help.

I keep saying there needs to be some repercussions for people who do not take 911 seriously.

We need jobs and people are willing to work at just about anything these days.

I say, make a team of special officers at every single police station in every single district in the country.  They handle going out to pay these people a visit.  People like the mother and father of this family perhaps.  People like this are taking away valuable time and resources of the police to help them escape a corn field, really?  And these people are allowed to procreate?!

So when the special team gets there, they fine them and arrest them.  I haven't worked out all the details of my idea, but the basics are simple.  Everyone who calls 911 intentionally (I'm not talking babies that dial the number off there parents phone, or pocket dialers though, there could be a special lesser fee for that too) that doesn't have a major emergency needs to be arrested and fined.  They need to understand that it was wrong to call 911 and that perhaps they should've thought about it before actually doing it.  Meanwhile, the police could actually be helping prevent murders, rapes, and other real terrible things from happening, in other words, helping people who really desperately need it.

There's nothing to punish people currently who behave like this and that's a real shame.  The police officers where I live are getting fired, or laid off, or forced to take unpaid days off because the whole country's economy is hurting and they can't afford to keep a whole team of police on the streets all the time.  The fee system would be a great way to punish stupid people as well as generate revenue.

People like this make me so very mad because they are risking other innocent people's lives for something insanely stupid.  If one of my family members was dying and I couldn't get through to 911 or get help immediately because someone else was tying up the lines and available officers for a corn maze I would probably find a way to punish those people myself.  It makes my blood boil just thinking about it.

There needs to be punishment for not taking 911 seriously.  I know that we are lucky to have a number to call for emergencies, because there are some countries that don't have anything at all set up, but by God there needs to be repercussions for people who take advantage of it and treat it like a concierge service at a hotel they're staying at.

911 is not for cats stuck in trees.

It's not for dogs stuck in hot cars (you should find the local police station's number and call them, I'm not saying ignore the dog, just don't call 911 for it.)

911 is not for the people in this article and

it's not for people who can't get a hamburger made the way they want it at Burger King either.

People just need to grow up, take responsibility for their own actions, and handle small solvable problems on their own.