It you want people to actually pay attention to your bathroom signage, it’s go big or go home. This one certainly made Jennifer in Tennessee take notice.
related: Things not to flush down the toilet: your hopes, your dreams…your sweaters
The Paper Towel Apocalypse
April 29th, 2013 · 50 comments
FILED UNDER: all clogged up · i.e. or e.g. it's all greek -- or is it latin? -- to me · Tennessee · toilet
50 responses so far ↓
#1
Marie
I’m okay with this. It’s pretty funny compared to some of the rude stuff posted.
Apr 29, 2013 at 4:57 pm rating: 90
#2
Crystal
I have no doubt that this is true. I’m pretty sure the toilet is the center of my husband’s world, too.
Apr 29, 2013 at 5:15 pm rating: 90
#3
Herne Hill Dave
Um … there’s no big arrow pointing to the ‘cute, little silver trash cans’. People might not be curious enough to look around. Just saying.
Apr 29, 2013 at 6:22 pm rating: 90
#4
zenvelo
I wish they’d clarify. Is it okay to drop a deuce in the toilet? Just makin’ sure….
Apr 29, 2013 at 6:39 pm rating: 90
#5
Sabine
As much as this note is articulate, shown in a well chosen font and displays a subtle sense of humor, you know that the writer will be in there with a snake and plunger within 24 hours.
Apr 29, 2013 at 7:25 pm rating: 90
#6
Jami
Ladies, unless your parents were too uptight to sign the permission slip, you learned in fifth grade from that lovely little film about your “budding bodies” that YOU DO NOT FLUSH TAMPONS!
*headdesk*
When will they understand?
Apr 29, 2013 at 9:49 pm rating: 90
#7
Bailey
How many times do women have to be reminded? All I heard my entire life is how mindless us guys are in the loo (poor aim, toilet seat up/down, etc.). Seems like the chicas have dubiously one-upped the boys.
Apr 29, 2013 at 10:11 pm rating: 90
#8
Adriana
I thought the Hellmouth was in Sunnydale, not Tennessee.
Apr 30, 2013 at 6:43 am rating: 90
#9
aj
I got into a huge argument with female co-workers who were offended by used tampons in the trash can, because that was “revolting and they should always be flushed.” I countered with “Every plumber I have ever spoken with does NOT think that’s a good idea”. They pointed to the tampon box, which says it’s OK to flush the things. I asked – what if there is a sign indicating the system can’t handle them and was told they would flush them anyway.
If some women are that squeamish about it, there is no hope of compliance for note-writer.
Apr 30, 2013 at 9:17 am rating: 90
#10
Kwyjor
This is quite possibly the most wholesomely amusing note I have seen on this site so far. It’s downright heartwarming.
Back to the usual pissery tomorrow, I reckon. That’s amusing in a different way.
Apr 30, 2013 at 9:29 am rating: 90
#11
Captain Hampton
It’s a well-known fact that even the most slovenly, disgusting members of our society that ignore standard rules of hygiene and decency are compelled by nature to read and obey signs such as this one.
Apr 30, 2013 at 9:37 am rating: 90
#12
Raichu
I love this. One of the most creative ways to put up a “don’t flush stuff that shouldn’t be flushed, dolts!!” sign.
Apr 30, 2013 at 11:33 am rating: 90
#13
sunshynegrll
So when does the Michael Bay tampocalypse movie come out? C’mon Hollywood, you’re slipping. Just grab The Core and The Story of Menstruation and smush their faces together.
Apr 30, 2013 at 4:18 pm rating: 90
#14
DLW
I was never actually taught to not flush tampons. Not flushing pads was obvious. Now if a sign says to not flush them, then I got it. I actually always flushed them when we were on city sewer and never had any issues, for 10 years. Now when we moved and were back on a septic tank, I stopped.
I think the first time I ever even saw a sign about not flushing them was in NOLA, because they (according to the sign) have tiny ancient pipes.
Apr 30, 2013 at 8:52 pm rating: 90
#15
redheadwglasses
I worked in an office that, in addition to having the usual sort of restrooms one finds in office buildings, also had a small one-seater just off of the breakroom.
One of my employees was flushing PADS. Regularly. It took us a while to figure out who it was but after that, she was told that if a plumber had to be called again, his fee would be deducted from her final paycheck.
May 1, 2013 at 12:14 pm rating: 90
#16
AlyInSebby
After our sex ed films, has no one else but me toured a waste treatment facility? (In college for Anthro.)
Those folks are who I defer to.
Most, even big city systems aren’t built to process paper products beyond tp.
It’s a big sieve in the end and that stuff clogs the ‘filter’.
I started to default to believing some packaging that says you can flush the items, like cleaning wipes made from recycled materials-nope, nothing beyond tp, NOLA, SFCA, NYC, Seattle…wots the most modern city in U.S.? – Nope! FULL STOP
May 1, 2013 at 6:47 pm rating: 90
#17
jennyb
I submitted this. I actually thought it was very witty, not so much passive aggressive. The people here are delightful, and I was glad to see a clever note instead of the usual, more straightforward one. I just had to share it. And the little silver trash cans were cute, and right below the sign.
May 1, 2013 at 11:52 pm rating: 90
#18
misspiggy
Like many people, I was taught to flush both tampons and pads by my mum. The thinking was, ‘British plumbing will cope with anything!’ And it often did. Unfortunately, British sewerage systems are not so impressive, and it took a lot of campaigning by groups like Surfers Against Sewage to end the hideous beach experiences that were a normal part of my childhood holidays.
May 2, 2013 at 6:50 am rating: 90
#19
kbee
I flushed a tampon once. I can’t recall why, I suspect it was because there was no trash can available at the time. I felt like the biggest ass in the universe, and I sent up a tiny prayer as I flushed it down, hoping it wouldn’t clog up, flood the entire bathroom and spawn some hellacious tampon-demon to come after me.
But anyway, I was taught to wrap that shit up in some toilet paper and throw it in the trash. There’s even warnings on the packages telling you not to flush things down the loo. I’ve heard terrible stories (my step-father works in the water department and on occasion had to deal with the sanitation department’s water tanks and filtration systems) and seen the damage clogs caused by this stuff can do. I pity the plumbers and sanitation workers who have to deal with it.
But kudos to this sign writer for being witty and not nasty about a potentially nasty situation.
May 2, 2013 at 5:25 pm rating: 90
#20
Nope
I’m kind of tempted to put other non-toilet paper items in the toilet and see how cataclysmic all of this really is. Some people just want to watch the world burn?
May 3, 2013 at 7:44 am rating: 90
#21
Cassandra
In/near Bethesda, Maryland, I ate at a Chinese restaurant that had a sign in the bathroom warning to not flush toilet paper, but instead place it in the trash can next to the toilet otherwise it would cause flooding.
Using that bathroom and seeing the big TP trash can before eating would have killed my appetite.
May 3, 2013 at 5:30 pm rating: 90
#22
helen-louise
Wheelchair accessible toilets fairly often lack sanitary towel bins. It’s as if the people fitting out the loo have forgotten that disabled women have periods! So I sometimes end up taking my own used pads home with me, as the least disgusting option.
Yes, really.
May 5, 2013 at 12:17 am rating: 90
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