Thursday night is one of the biggest party nights of the year – New Year’s Eve. People everywhere will be inviting lots of friends and more than a few total strangers into their homes to celebrate with them. There’ll be lots of food and drink, music and everything else that goes with having a crowd of folks over.
From a practical standpoint, that also means that more than a few plumbing systems will have a stress added to them that’s not normally encountered. After all, you take 20 people, put them in a 2 bedroom apartment with one bathroom, and there’s going to be a lot of in-and-out in that part of the house.
Which leads to the eternal question – why do people hide the plunger?
It’s not like we don’t all have at least one in our home. They’re useful – even essential items – that stand as silent sentries until they’re crucial, at which time they leap into action.
You can't have an event that requires a plunger and think, “Oh, I need to get one of those next time I go to the hardware store.” If you need it, you pretty well need it NOW, or there’s the potential for some dire consequences.
The funny thing that goes with this is human nature. Some people who are in the bathroom when the toilet gets clogged go through different variations of the same ritual. It’s a lot like the five stages of grief.
First, there’s Denial. As the water begins to approach the rim of the toilet, the thought, “Nah, it can’t overflow. You can’t do this. I won’t let you. I refuse to believe this is happening to me.”
As the water creeps closer to the top, there's Anger. "Why don't these people manage their plumbing system correctly? It's terribly rude to let it get clogged with all these guests. I could get water all over my fancy goin' out clothes, not to mention these Hush Puppies aren't water-tight!"
Anger usually flashes through quickly, though, and is replaced by Bargaining. A toilet bowl fills at a remarkable pace when it looks like it'll overflow.
“Please don't overflow. Not with me in here. Let me get out and you can do whatever you want, as long as one other person comes in and leaves before you flood. Just go back down and I'll leave. I promise not to come back in here again tonight. Just let someone else come in before you flow over.”
This phase, of course, is worse for women because their clothes are frequently not designed either for running away or kneeling down to deal with the problem. Guys admittedly have it easier since, if they are quick thinking, they can reach down and turn off the water valve.
Depression is the fourth stage. "Oh, no. This is not the impression I wanted to make. Everyone will think I caused this, and it was SO not my fault. I'll die if this flows out the door and everyone is watching."
Finally is Acceptance. In some cases, this is accompanied by shouts for help, maybe on the theory that it will spread the blame to some extent. People might think that the person yelling simply happened upon the situation and is a hero for catching it before the tsunami makes it to the bar.
Unlike a terminal illness, these phases can happen instantaneously, depending on the degree of blockage and the water flow coming in. During acceptance, there is recognition that the toilet is going to flow over, and whomever is occupying the toilet at that moment is going to be the center of some very unwanted attention. It's going to happen no matter what.
She may have spent hours at the hairdresser and ages putting on her makeup so that it coordinates perfectly with the outfit. Nonetheless, a woman in this position will be remembered as, “the girl who made the toilet overflow.”
Not exactly the tag one would want to carry away from an otherwise nice evening.
Unlike many other conditions, though, remission can occur. If the plunger is available and can be used, it’s sometimes possible to stop the disaster and no one be the wiser (although in my opinion a polite guest does whisper in the host / hostess’ ear that there’s a problem, like they would if toilet paper were running low).
So let's all take a moment before our guests arrive, and make sure that the plunger is there in sight, ready for action.
You don't want this to happen at your party. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xM5uladu6c
(Turn DOWN your volume, these ladies scream a lot)
2 comments:
About couple months ago, I noticed that the kids' bathroom upstairs seemed to have a bad odor each time I went up there. I knew it was being cleaned regularly so I was perplexed. I kept asking the kids individually if they had "stomach" issues which they of course, denied. i poured a little extra cleaning toxin in the toilet and down all the drains for good measure but the odor persisted for a while. A few days ago, my daughter announced that there was a petrified poo inside the toilet plunger in the bathroom upstairs. Apparently, a guest had wisely snuck upstairs to use a more private bathroom. Lucky for him/her, the toilet plunger was available when a crisis "arose." Unfortunately, our guest did not utilize proper plunger etiquette and make sure it was properly cleaned after use.
This is now my reason for hiding the plunger from public view! TD
I dunno; I think I'd rather have a strange smell to deal with rather than poo water flowing down the stairs!!
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