A co-worker and I went to Popeye's chicken for lunch. The tables were nearly full of people munching away at their chicken, and at least five people were waiting for their orders to be filled.

As we moved to get in line, a woman waiting for her food said, "They're closed." I looked at her, and interpreted it as hyperbole. They were really busy...that's what she meant, right? They might as well be closed because they're so slow.

Nope. We move up to the line and a female employee turns around after putting chicken in a box, sees us, and says, "I'm sorry, we're closed. The health department done shut us down."

I turned to the woman waiting for her food, and she said, "See, I told you. Nobody believes me."

And I said, "Well, people are still eating and waiting for their food." She just shrugged and we walked out, heading to KFC instead.

Now the people eating might not have known what was going on, but the people waiting for their food were all within earshot.

So why the hell would someone want their order filled by a place that was just shut down by the health department?

And why didn't the health department inform all the patrons and tell them to eat elsewhere? It it was bad enough to shut down on the spot, why would they let people finish their meals?

Very strange.