Happy Friday: To Flush or Not to Flush
I was in PA visiting my family a few weeks ago. My brothers and sisters and I went out for pizza and this picture was from a sign in the bathroom! I didn’t know what to do…so I flushed the paper anyway!
HAPPY FRIDAY!
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They must be having some plumbing problems. You probably should have thrown the TP in the trash (assuming they had one in reach).
I was thinking the same thing too 🙂
Yep! My sister used to be a hostess at a restaurant and they had some issues. Even with the sign, ppl STILL flushed the TP instead of putting it in the trash bin Eventually it would back up and the next unsuspecting person who flushed, the water would overflow and make a grand mess!
Yep! My sister used to be a hostess at a restaurant and they had some issues. Even with the sign, ppl STILL flushed the TP instead of putting it in the trash bin Eventually it would back up and the next unsuspecting person who flushed, the water would overflow and make a grand mess!
Maybe they meant to say please do not flush “too much” toilet paper. If you can’t flush the paper it should be “out of order”.
I dont think they are allowed to have the resturant open without a “working” restroom.. that was their way around it:)
PA isn’t Mexico
Can I love this comment!!!
eww I am pretty grossed out that people would actually be willing to put the used toilet paper in the trash. I am sorry but that is NASTY!
There’s some cultures that think flushing the toilet paper down the toilet is going to break it. So they throw it ALL in the garbage can right next to the toilet……even the #2 paper GAG!!!!
Some cultures just don’t have as high of quality septic system as we do here in the States. I lived in Costa Rica where all the paper is thrown in the waste basket. It is really not all that bad. You get used to it. It would be impolite to throw the paper in the toilet if that is what the sign says…
How about diapers then?
Well don’t go to Asia countries then. We always put toilet paper in the trash and it is considered impolite / improper to flush it down the toilet.
If you see a sign telling / warning you not to flush, then you shouldn’t flush! I don’t see what the problem is to throw it in the trash.
That is hillarious!!!
My sentiments exactly.
Wow!!! LOL!
I saw a similar sign in a restroom in a popular arizona ghost town, They said that the system was on overload and paper made it worse. so no paper down the drain.
That is too funny!
I was taking classes at UC RIverside several years ago, and there was a sign in the restrooms, in about 7 different languages, stating to please flush your toilet paper, do not put it in the trash.
My friend had a roomate who always threw his toilet paper in the trash and when she asked him about it he said that’s just how he was raised in his household. I had never heard of that before!
Same here! I live with my fiancé and his mom and not a single person flushes their toilet paper. They swear if u flush it, the toilet will clog. I ALWAYS flush bc I think it’s gross! I keep telling her that this isn’t Mexico ( she’s from there ) but she doesn’t listen. Lol
Ah, only in PA!
Soooooooo agree with that!
🙁 Trying not to feel offended.
If it’s yellow, let it mellow
If it’s brown, flush it down
That’s the rule at our house.
Thats so nasty!!!! lol
LOL!!!! Yes!! That was our saying for a mission trip i took to Mexico. I thought it was so funny at the time & they had just made that up, but apparently not so. 🙂 One of the cultural differences that i thought was unique to Mexico, but perhaps also to PA…
I’ve lived in PA for the last 34 years and have never seen a sign like that. I would think it is something to do with the people at the restaurant, not the people of PA.
I have lived in PA my entire life (28 years) and I have never seen a sign like that. Ever. Anywhere. I am slightly offended that people are saying it’s a “PA thing.”
hehe the toilet probably exploded since you visited and you’ve now outted yourself 😉
I really don’t want to use a restroom where everyone’s used toilet paper is sitting in the trash can beside me… ewwww gross. I have seen how some places NEVER empty their trash, can get pretty stinky.
Well..in some places like COSTA RICA where the plumbing SUCKS to put it mildly…you are NOT ALLOWED even at places like yoga resorts to flush toilet paper. I had one of those incidents of “overflowing paper” happen somewhere on the grounds. But let me tell ya the idea of having “used toilet paper” sitting around in a bathroom till the maid came around was GROSS!!!
Maybe she was supposed to put in in her purse and flush it at home? LOL
I probably have a little different view on this… I’m in the medical field and from a sanitary point of view, it is not okay to have people throw tissue in a garbage next to the toilet. I won’t gross everyone out with the different bacteria that are growing, MRSA etc. that could potentially contaminate the next innocent person. if I go in a place where you can’t flush the paper or don’t have toilet seat covers, I won’t use the bathroom and I don’t go back!
Amen.
I always make a mental note of places that have (and manage to keep them refilled) those disposable seat covers. Those are great! If a place doesn’t have them. I make one out of toilet paper myself. Takes a little time and effort, but I like to think it’s worth it.
its actually not worth it, it’s a huge waste of toilet paper when people do that, I saw on it on a show, I believe it was The Doctors, that you cant catch anything from a toilet seat… if you’re that afraid just do a quick squat over the seat or carry around a travel size can of Lysol
you can get crabs from toilet seats.. no joke..
You sure can! And, you could catch anything that someone’s butt or other wise put on that toilet. Hey, we all have that stray pimple every now and then….now imagine that person sat on that toilet seat….bodily fluids!!! Icky!
Those toilet seat covers are too flimsy to give me any real sense of protection, I just squat and try not to touch anything. Then I flush with my foot.
Nicole is right you can’t catch anything from a toilet seat. This makes me wonder how some of you sit on a toilet. Unless your rubbing your unmentionable areas all over it I don’t see what the cause for panic is.
Well, it’s obviously okay for people to throw dirty diapers away in the rest room, not to mention a special trash receptacle for used women’s products, which are a bio hazard themselves.
I don’t often have to go to public restrooms, but if I have to go, I will find a way as opposed to holding it and causing myself distress and harm.
I complain about the municipal water prices I pay (it seems to go up all the time) but our infrastructure and water treatment plant gets upgraded constantly. I guess it’s a pretty good place to spend money. I have never smelled odors from a water treatment plant here and in cities I have visited where the water/sewer bills are lower, it stinks if you get within a half mile.
I agree. Used diapers & women’s products are just as unsanitary as used tp. Furthermore, some plumbers are noting that “flushable” wipes, such as Cottonelle shouldn’t be flushed, but thrown away in the garbage because those wipes don’t break down fast enough and clog pipes.
They don’t break down at all. I wash them in the washing machine and reuse them as cleaning wipes.
EWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What’s so gross about that? Not really any different than using cloth diapers!
All I can say is yuck- could you imagine the smell of used tp in a trashcan……
we just empty our bathroom trash daily. no big deal really
In Mexico, the toilet system can’t handle paper. Sounds like that restaurant is in the same position. My husband worked at a plant where a lot of his coworkers were from Mexico and they wouldn’t flush the toilet paper. They threw it in the trash. I guess that’s why some places post that it’s okay to flush it.
the same thing happened with my dad, but he was working at a food production plant with a lot of mexican people. it was the norm for them to not flush it, but at a FOOD place they had to.
I’m going to have to show this post and all your comments to my husband. He keeps telling me that I need to stop flushing tp and I insist that I will NOT do that… just the thought of dirty tp sitting in the trash can beside the toilet makes me want to vomit
I’ve been to several countries in Central & South America and as a few others have said, this is the rule in ALL the places I’ve visited – it isn’t the exception. I’m sure the sign was there for a reason. Hope the next person didn’t find out what that reason was. 🙂 And touching the door handles, water faucets, soap dispensers, stall door locks, etc are all much more bacteria-ridden than a trash container BESIDE the toilet… unless one reaches into said container to retrieve something.
just what i was thinking. it still amazes me that people are so phobic about using public restrooms. your cell phone probably has way more germs.
Does anyone know if I have Walmart price matches the clean & clear body wash sale price walgreens has right now, will they also accept the manufacture coupons that are buy on get one?
I tried to do it today and it didn’t work. Let me just say I have not had much experience price matching, but I have been to 4 Walgreens several times this week and found no more than 1 bottle of body wash on the shelves. With the coupons expiring on Sunday, I was thrilled to find Walmart well stocked. The cashier was VERY nice, but was told by Customer Service to ring one up at 5.00 and the other at .99. The coupon would have given me the 5.00 one for free, but I wasn’t willing to pay .50 for each body wash when I was supposed to be getting them for free ( I have plenty of body wash but wanted to try the new brand and am getting donations ready for tornado victims). Anyway, didn’t work for me, but I would love to hear if this is the normal way of treating BOGO price matches at Walmart. I am going to send corporate an email to see if I can get any clarification.
HTH!
I tried price matching the body wash at walmart too. I called corporate and asked what their coupon policy is with using a BOGO free coupon on a BOGO free sale. She said walmart had no corporate coupon policy ( ? ) and it was up to each individual store. When i price matched it she just charged me $3 for each body wash so when i used my BOGO free coupon it only took off $3. I don’t need body wash enough to have to pay for it and i didn’t want to argue so i just returned them both and got my money back.
Isn’t it funny that we’ve come so accustomed to getting free bodywash that we aren’t willing to pay for it….not even $0.50! LOL!!!
They wouldn’t even let me use the coupons, she said no its one or the other. If she would of taken of some of it and made it where I had to pay 50 cents I would of. But they were very rude. I contacted corporate, we will see what they say.
I have one really rude Walmart in town, and one really nice one… so I went to the really nice [new] one to try this deal. The cashier did bring over a manager, but they were both really nice about it – I just gave her the ad AND the coupon together and explained how they worked and how it would make them both free, and so the manager helped the cashier put in the first one for .01, then the second one for 5.98… then the coupon in for 5.99 — I was very pleased.
my daughter took a trip to Greece and that is the rule over there no one is allowed to flush the tp. personally I find it GROSS but if you are in another country you have to do as you are asked.
We lived in Greece for 2 years and they do not flush toilet paper. In our apartment we were told not to flush toilet paper. If we did and it cause problems we would be responsible for any repairs.
And on the Greek airlines, as well as the International terminal of JFK, you will find piles of used TP in the corner behind the toilet. If they can’t find a garbage can, then they use the corner……
Exactly. If you are in Rome you do as the Romans do. If you’re in America then do as the Americans do . . . flush your nasty toilet paper!!!
Oh do I have a story to share… My son’s friend came to spend the night with us. The boys are playing video games, hubby is at work, & I am checking out the latest hip deals. I have to take a little girl’s room break so I head down the hall; my dog has a pile of toilet paper she is tearing to shreds & I am freaking out because she has never done that! Well, come to find out our little friend cannot flush toilet paper at his house so he didn’t at ours either. Needless to say, I emptied the garbage & scrubbed the can plus the carpet where my dog was having her fun. I didn’t say anything to his friend at the time, I thought maybe it was a mistake. The next time I noticed it in the garbage can before my dog could get to it. I didn’t make a big deal out of it, I did not want to embarrass him, I just mentioned to him that it was ok to flush it at our house.
A little tip if you are on a septic system… My plumber friend told me to flush yogurt before bedtime, so that it sits all night, it helps to break down the waste like the more expensive stuff does. Guess what I do with all my free yogurt 🙂
I’ve heard that too! It has to be the kind with live active cultures though.
I know this question is unrelated but I always have problems at my wags. I have a bogo q and wanna use it for the bogo body wash from last week. I got my rain check and found some in stock. So with the q and the bogo sale do I get both items for free or do I buy one and get two free?
I had a raincheck for the BOGO Right Guard and was able to use it with my coupons today. The cashier rang it up as 4.98 for the first one and .01 for the second because she thought she wasn’t supposed to ring anything as a zero value. However, once I showed her my coupons, she called a manager over to make sure it was OK even though I was willing to pay the .01 if that’s how it turned out. 😉 The manager who has helped with coupon issues in the past had her void the whole transaction and told her that it was OK to ring one at 4.99 and the second one for 0.00. The coupon did limit the purchase price to 4.49 ( I believe that’s right), though so I did have to pay the difference. I usually don’t pay for body wash ( see above) but am getting donations ready and went with the flow this time.
Not sure if it will make a difference, but I am going to make sure that the person who writes the raincheck writes a price in if it is a BOGO also.
Thank you for the help! I went back to the store and the mgr fixed it.
no one in my husbands family flushes TP. i don’t mind the pee paper so much but i hate going there and finding poop paper laying in the garbage. MIL also does not wrap her soiled pads…..ewwwwwwwwwwwwww
Words cannot explain just how grossed out I am about this whole post! I could vomit just reading about the not flushing of TP ~ but then the unwrapped soiled feminine napkins ~ yep over the top disgusting. And we wonder how disease is spread. Perfect breeding ground for TB, Hepatitis, EColi among the simple things like Strep, the Flu and other everyday transmisted illnesses. IT’s not possible to wash your hands before you leave the stall anyway- so the handles are loaded with easily transmitted germs that cause serious illness. Again, I am completely grossed out.
ugh.. why did i start reading this during dinner..
Lol! They don’t flush it at at in brazil! Something about their water pressure. My mom went there on vacation and was shocked! Even in the fancy 5 star hotel she stayed in! Believe it or not, she said the bathrooms don’t smell! They must change the trash a million times a day! She flushed anyway!
I don’t understand what you mean that you didn’t know what to do. Wasn’t there a trash can there? In many other countries you can’t flush toilet paper, you must throw it away. And also even here in the U.S. a lot of folks that live out in the country don’t have great plumbing and ask you not to flush any toilet paper.
I wouldn’t have known what to do either. Before reading this post, it wouldn’t have occured to me to use toilet paper then throw it in the trash instead of the toilet.
I agree … If anything i would think it meant dont flush a roll if it fell in or something on accident
I’m agreeing with the ladies above. I literally have never heard of this until now.
Me either! I would have flushed it and assumed they messed up the sign and it was supposed to say feminine hygiene or something!
Ditto!
this is so amazing to me that some of you would’ve had no idea what the sign meant!!! we have an old plumbing system that we are trying to salvage, so we don’t flush all of our toilet paper, just the poop ones. it helps us from having a huge plumbing problem.
I have a question that is unrelated to this post. I went to my local walgreens today and used a raincheck for the bogo Right Guard body wash from last week. I had the bogo q’s. The cashier rang everything up and still had me buying 3 bottles of body wash. Am I missing something or did she do it wrong?I got 6 bottles and used 3 q’s. Thanks for any help!
Brandy—they must have not redeemed your rain check properly. It should have rang up 6 for the price of 3 and then redeem your BOGO Q’s bringing your total to just tax….I would check your receipt and go back to the store and simply return the bottles for store credit if they don’t fix the error.
Thanks for the help! I went back and talked to a mgr. who fixed the problem.
The paper on which you write “do not flush toilet” is the “do not flush toilet paper”
They had signs like that all over Greece when I was on my honeymoon (they don’t have the sewer systems I have. I flushed anyway. The garbage cans they had didn’t even have bags in them. I felt really bad for anyone that had to clean the bathrooms.
Loving this post. I am from PA and a nurse and I do flush my toliet paper. What part of PA is your family from? I can give you tips on restaurants that have flushable toliets:)
Lancaster County, PA 🙂
I just happened to read these comments and was amazed. I understand that some people may have trouble with their systems and that that may be the case in foreign countries but I had no idea that this was a “normal” thing for many. EW!!!
I just assumed when I saw the pic that whoever made the sign was supposed to put Do Not Flush Paper Towels. I have seen signs like that in many places. THAT I understand!
I agree! I think that the restaurant meant to say NO PAPER TOWELS in the toilet…that explains it…
When I was on my honeymoon in Cozumel, these signs were at a place we stopped at when we went on a tour. There was also a sign that said that there was a $100 fine if they found out you did flush toilet paper next to it. I bet it has something to do with not having sewage perhaps….
I wouldn’t want to be the trash person in that restaurant. Gross.
It appears that many people in this country are ignorant of many other places around the world that do not have the septic system to support tp be flushed or maybe their tp is not designed to be flushed. To make matter even worse, I have stayed in hotels where the trash containers do not have any kind of liner or plastic bag…so you can imagine the stuff that can be stuck in the can even after it has been emptied.
In Mexico- yes I remember signs (Cozymel) but I don’t remember signs about toilet paper in Caymans or Aruba-so it might just be some areas. Some people have not had the opportunity or means to travel outside of the US- they are not ignorant-just never encountered this before so it is strange to them…..
Haha. When I went to Mexico it was a known thing not to flush the toilet paper. Instead you’re suppose to throw it away. I’m so thankful I can do that here in the U.S.
Thank you for the laugh that is just to funny!!!! What in the heck are you suppose to do carry it out and throw in the trash can????? UMMMM no thank you, call a plummer!!!!!
Most boat toilets won’t handle TP, so if you’re on a boat, ask before you use the “head”.
Ewww some of these comments are so gross (especially the MIL leaving her dirty pads out) *puke face*
When I was on vacation in Mexico I never saw a sign that said I couldn’t flush the tp (I also never went to the bathroom outside of my hotel) But I guess that must mean that at least some places in Mexico must have ok plumbing right?
i live in Mexico, my plumbing is fine…but some places aren’t and most people were raised that you couldn’t flush the toilet paper.
This is very common in many outlying cities in Asian countries also. It didn’t gross me out too much when we were there.
Now squat toilets, that grossed me out but I was also five months pregnant when we were traveling so my balance was off making the whole experience that much more interesting.
I can’t believe you mentioned squat toilets. LOL So gross..way worse than a little poo paper.
MANY countries don’t flush TP! Not just central and south America but parts of Europe too! Another reason to love THIS country, is that we can(with the exception of this joint)!
Amen to that! America is exceptional and so is our plumbing =). I don’t think people even realize how good we have it.
I live in Mexico…most places you don’t flush the toilet paper! It goes in the trash can 🙂 Sometimes I want to put a sign in my bathroom in my house that says in Spanish…my plumbing is ok, please put dirty toilet paper in the toilet and flush it!!! 🙂
Has anyone visited/lived in Japan? The Japanese water pressures are so awesome. No matter how many people take a bath/shower, the bathroom can control same pressure and same temp for all the time. When you flush, you’ll be amaze how the pressure is strong. Also the shower is really nice as well.
In many countries, toilet paper doesn’t exist because they do not have the system to break it down! If you are on a dinner cruise or snorkeling boat in Hawaii, you throw it in a trash bin not the toilet. If i’m in a situation where it asks not to flush, and I have been several times, I wrap my dirty tissue in a bit of clean tissue and throw it away.
OMG I have to ask…was this pizza place in the Scranton area???
I live in an APT building where the pressure is lousy so I don’t flush toilet paper (that is the quickest way to get it clogged).
People here are acting like it’s the end of the world or something. You’re not going to get a disease nor does it stink up the bathroom. Calm down.
We had had great sewer systems before this and just now moved to a place with an older septic system so I have to be more careful about what gets flushed. I’m good with pee paper being in the trash – no biggie there but poopy paper gets flushed. Pads/Tampons get wrapped up and trashed.
Ha ha ha! We just got back from a rental property in Florida (where we took a family vacation) and the lady had signs posted all over the house like this and our entire family was in disbelief. None of us had ever heard of that before, and all of us have traveled to Mexico, India, Carribean, etc. I personally thought it was weird, but not all that gross… but I don’t typically have a mess when I wipe myself, either. Perhaps other folks are different. Dirty diapers are WAY smellier than our trash was. We also had trash can liners, so closing up a garbage can liner and taking it to the big trash was no biggie. I can’t imagine doing it if there were no liners tho! (esp w/ the #2 paper!) I did forget a couple times and do it accidentally, but everyone else in my family decided it was disgusting and they weren’t going to obey the rule. Hope they didn’t cause any issues!
I’m shocked by some of these comments. I grew up in the country with not so great plumbing and we always put the toilet paper in the trash can. I can’t believe the people that said it wouldn’t have occured to them to do that. Really??? We put dirty diapers and used sanitary products in the trash-how is that any different? They do make trash cans with lids so you don’t have to sit there and look at it. Also, I used to work at a restaurant and one of the stalls did not have a trash can, but there was one out by the sink. I can’t tell you how many times I would find used sanitary products laying on the floor because some woman didn’t want to wrap it in toilet paper and put it in the trash. Now THAT was gross.
I was totally going to post that I thought she was made this sign herself just to send in a funny photo and get a prize! But after reading these comments I now think it is legit! 🙂
What is the big deal? Just throw it in the trash! Duh.
I’ve been to Costa Rica several times, and their plumbing system isn’t like ours, and you have to do just that… NOT flush the toilet paper. To us Americans who are richly blessed, this seems gross or even humorous. But for many parts of the world, it’s just part of people’s daily lives. At least there was a restroom to use (vs. a port-o-potty or a hole in the ground). 🙂
Hahahaha… Funny Stuff!
I’m blessed to go on Missions trips to Ukraine in the summers to teach English. Like most other countries, their pipes are much smaller, so you have to learn, if there’s a garbage can near the toilet, throw it away.
I learned this from my good friend in Ukraine, she has been to the US and she explained it to me this way, “In America, you make everything big.” 🙂 We laughed for a while about that. 🙂