A Maine sandwich shop got an order so big it just had to be a prank.
The caller told George’s Sandwich Shop in Biddeford he wanted “55 sandwiches to go,” immediately bringing to mind a gag once pulled by famous radio jock Don Imus.
Imus called a McDonald’s while on the air, telling the fast-food clerk he needed “1,200 hamburgers to go.”
When the poor McDonald’s staffer tried to explain “we don’t have enough meat or buns” for such a large order, I
mus told him that he was “Sergeant Kirkland of the Army National Guard” and he needed the 1,200 hamburgers for a troop movement.
At that point the McDonald’s worker began calling Imus “sir,” checked with his supervisor, and told the good sergeant that yes, he would be able to fill the order.
That’s when Imus started telling him how he wanted the order put out, detailing menu changes for each dozen hamburgers – some with pickles some without, those with pickles extra mustard, and the ones with extra mustard hold the onion, so on and so forth.
Finally the McDonald’s staffer caught on to the gag as Imus hung up the phone in laughter.
Though Imus was laughing, the Federal Communications Commission didn’t find it funny.
The incident was so famous it resulted in an FCC rule change, requiring DJs to identify themselves when making on-air calls.
So when George’s Sandwich Shop in Biddeford, Maine got the order for 55 Italians, one can imagine what was going through their heads – a prank caller?
But it turned out the order was for real, having been placed by a visiting lacrosse team that was playing at the University of New England.
The shop says it “cranked out 55 sandwiches just in the nick of time!” according to its Facebook post.
The only downside to such a big order was the shop had to close for part of the day to focus on the 55-sandwich requirement.
“We really appreciate our regular customers for understanding we had to close early today to facilitate this order,” a sandwich spokesman said.
Word is that that was the biggest single order George’s Sandwich Shop has received in the 78 years it has been in business.
“We’d Like 55 Sandwiches To Go” Sounds Like The Infamous Imus Prank But It Was For Real
By Ted Cohen
