Or maybe Hanako switched to the men's bathroom. Here at our school today someone stuffed a toilet full of paper and didn't flush. I gave it a flush and a few moments later it turned into a nice fountain, water flowing gently out and onto the tile floor. I told one of the other teachers and he took a plunger to it, which wasn't really my intention. I thought he'd call a plumber or something like that.
Well, next time I'll plunge the stupid toilet myself, but I do feel better not having done so this time. I hate fooling around with toilets because I've got a touch of the ol' OCD. The fewer toilets I have to come into contact with, the better.
Which reminds me of a funny story. Years ago I lived in an older apartment and the toilet wasn't exactly modern, either. Sometimes the ball and cock assembly or whatever it's called would give me trouble, and it finally gave out altogether. After talking to one of my brothers, who convinced me there was nothing to it, I went to one of those big household repair/supply/tool stores and bought a replacement kit for a little do-it-yourself stupidity.
I turned off the water and went to work and in a few minutes, I had everything changed out. Then I turned on the water and the thing went off like a water-rocket, the shaft flying into the air on a geyser drenching everything in the bathroom, including me. About an hour later, with the bathroom and myself newly scrubbed to the point of sterility, I called the apartment complex office and someone who knew that the hell he was doing came and fixed everything.
Here in Japan, I've had a lot better luck with toilets for the most part. The holes down at the bottom tend to be larger than in the US, for one thing. That cuts down a lot on clogs. But if you stuff as much paper into one as whoever did today, there's no way to avoid a spill.
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