Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Fear the Toilet Brush!

Here in U of MD Terp country, the motto is "Fear the Turtle!" I've always found this to be humorous in a ridiculously overstated kind of way. Really? A turtle? And not even a snapper or something aggressive! I might be wrong, but I don't think any of their outstanding characteristics include any to fear. I will say, though, that they are purported to be resourceful and adaptive. But, I digress. This is not really a post about Diamondback Terrapins or turtles, or even, the University of Maryland. (Britt- the barnacles are just for you, Sweet Pea. :)   )

                                                           Photo courtesy of www.wilddelaware.com

This post is about a toilet brush. I have never, ever, even thought of them as treacherous. Or dangerous. Or fear-inducing. After my recent go-round with this particular type of toilet brush, I will never take them for granted again. I will fear the toilet brush.


In my day to day work life, I am a Property Manager, among other things, at my job with a local real estate brokerage. We have one residential building of 15 apartments that I oversee. I have heard some strange things. Some funny things. Some absurd things. But, one of the ones that I shook my head over and wondered aloud, "how in the heck does this happen?" involved a teenage girl, a hair brush, and, you guessed it, a toilet. Said young girl somehow dropped her hairbrush in the toilet as it was flushing. I was dumbfounded as to how she managed to be involved with a brush and a flushing toilet at the same time. Down it went. Sooner than later, the toilet began to back up. Problems. A plumber. A $200+ bill that the mother/tenant had to pay because the problem was due to their negligence/  improper use of a device in the apartment. Bummer.

Back to the pictured toilet brush. Now, I have this particular model and have had it for a couple of years. (Is that proper or do these things have a shelf life that should be observed? My mother never addressed this issue with me, so I could use some education here.) See the protruding smaller brush on the left side? To those of you who don't know this tool, that is the brush that cleans under the rim of the toilet. A genius little addition designed to make toilet cleaners' (like me) lives easier. 

Somewhere along the line, I acquired another (although inferior) of this type of toilet brush. It's located in our Master Bathroom. (Well, what's left of it is there. :(  ) This past weekend, I was dutifully cleaning the throne, and  was happily and meticulously scrubbing away and things were going quite well! I was just about finished and as is my usual practice, I flushed the toilet while administering one final flourish with the brush and when I pulled it out, the bubbles dissipated, and the flush completed, I observed with horror that my tool was SANS brush #2! The smaller brush was nowhere to be seen! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? My thoughts flew immediately back to the teenage girl in 1D and how I had derided her in my mind and with our maintenance man about her flushed hair brush. Forevermore, I will "Fear the Toilet Brush!" Many dollars, much to my chagrin, will be put into someone's pocket to extract the errant, little, innocuous, "time-saving" Brush#2, . Gar of Life, as usual, was patiently forgiving.

Life has, on many occasions, taught me not to "wish" for selfish things. It's taught me not to be so adamant in my beliefs. It's taught me not to be so black and white. It's taught me that making fun of people isn't productive. Life has taught me that my extreme positions might just come around and bite me in the hiney. 

To Teenage Girl in 1D- my sincere apologies for calling you a dimwit! I, now, too, will humbly wear that appellation. And a hair shirt.  




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