I used to love to play with fireworks when I was younger. My favorite firework was the "flowers" that would spin rapidly on the ground and look like a pretty colored flower. I think my favorite part was the loud growling sound that the item would produce. We use to like lighting the fuse [don't try this at home kids...safety-safety-safety] and throw the flower into a body of water just as the firework ignited. This would cause a slow rotating "strobe" light that would sink toward the bottom...looked great in the dark.
Experimenting with fireworks became an obsession. I was demonstrating this to some of my roommates in the college dorm sink and toilet. Not quite the same effect but fun anyway. [Remember safety - burning dorm rooms and being expelled from college are negative outcomes]. Eventually, one of my roommates went a step further.
He has some bottle rockets [illegal in some states] and decided to add to the fun. He lit one of the rockets and let it flash around in the bowl of the toilet and laughed when the water splashed all over when it exploded. I warned him that an exploding device in the toilet was not a good idea as it could damage the toilet. "You don't know how strong porcelain is, it can handle it fine" he said with confidence and went back into the bathroom with another rocket.
From the kitchen I heard the familiar fluttering of the rocket motor followed by a splashy pop followed by rolling laughter...then silence. Several moments later, my roommate walked slowly out of the bathroom with a ghostly look on his face. "I think we have a problem" was the only thing he said with his eyes pointing at the floor. I walked passed him, walking carefully on the wet floor into the stall. Looking into the now empty bowl I could see a large chunk of displaced porcelain in the bottom. Now I was laughing until I realized that we would probably have to pay for it.
We made the perpetrator notify the facilities group. If memory serves me right, he told them he broke it while trying to unplug the toilet with a broom handle since we did not have a plunger. Wow, that was really a lump of crap [ha-ha] and they bought it or at least pretended to. New toilet and did not have to pay a dime...should I feel guilt?
Experimenting with fireworks became an obsession. I was demonstrating this to some of my roommates in the college dorm sink and toilet. Not quite the same effect but fun anyway. [Remember safety - burning dorm rooms and being expelled from college are negative outcomes]. Eventually, one of my roommates went a step further.
He has some bottle rockets [illegal in some states] and decided to add to the fun. He lit one of the rockets and let it flash around in the bowl of the toilet and laughed when the water splashed all over when it exploded. I warned him that an exploding device in the toilet was not a good idea as it could damage the toilet. "You don't know how strong porcelain is, it can handle it fine" he said with confidence and went back into the bathroom with another rocket.
From the kitchen I heard the familiar fluttering of the rocket motor followed by a splashy pop followed by rolling laughter...then silence. Several moments later, my roommate walked slowly out of the bathroom with a ghostly look on his face. "I think we have a problem" was the only thing he said with his eyes pointing at the floor. I walked passed him, walking carefully on the wet floor into the stall. Looking into the now empty bowl I could see a large chunk of displaced porcelain in the bottom. Now I was laughing until I realized that we would probably have to pay for it.
We made the perpetrator notify the facilities group. If memory serves me right, he told them he broke it while trying to unplug the toilet with a broom handle since we did not have a plunger. Wow, that was really a lump of crap [ha-ha] and they bought it or at least pretended to. New toilet and did not have to pay a dime...should I feel guilt?
5 comments:
You were a crazily insane then. Are you still? What would you do if I did that to the toilet? [Your Young Impressionable Daughter]
Who was your roommate? I see Rick in the picture....or was that from a youth conference?
I LOVE this story...you have no idea how many times I have told this story over the years. Even at the same college. Of course I never hinted to knowing who the people were involved. I am glad to hear it again from the "source". Very funny and I am glad you shared it. I have to second your counsel of "safety, safety, safety!"
I'm glad after all of the pyrotechnics you have morphed into a fine upstanding citizen. I don't think fireworks would have gone over that well at Daifuku!
PS: Are you sure your watchdog isn't a cat?
I used to love to be in Utah for the 24th just so I could watch you guys throw the flowers into the canal. I thought it was the coolest thing and would brag about it to all my friends in CA where most cities don't allow fireworks anymore. Remember when I lit Teresa's hair on fire?
Another good story!
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