"How Did He Know?"

After graduating from college I took my first REAL job at a computer manufacturing company in Southern California. For a while our new little family rented a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment in Ventura County. We had two little boys at the time, the youngest was just over six months old, and the older had just turned three.

One night when I came home from work, my beautiful wife informed me that the toilet was clogged and that her efforts to unplug it with the standard toilet plunger had been unsuccessful. I went upstairs to check it out and found it was true, but it was not the usual clog. For some reason, this clog allowed water to pass down the drain, but not solids. It was very strange and I could see why my wife was frustrated. My three year old son, joined me in the bathroom and sat in the corner watching me at work. He seemed very interested in how I was going to unclog the toilet.

First I continued with my wife's technique and used our toilet plunger. I tried to force the clog down and I tried to bring it back up. Nothing worked. Then I poured water down the toilet from a large plastic bucket, but that didn't work either. I tried hot water and and more plunging, but still no success. I was getting frustrated and very tired. The entire time, my son sat quietly in the corner watching my every action. I tried more hot water and harder plunging. Still nothing. It was so odd to me that the water was going down but not the paper or the other various items in the bowl.

Finally in exhaustion I sat down on the floor next to my little three year old son. He looked at me but said nothing. I spoke to him as I thought out loud about what I could try next. I am sure that he could sense my frustration as he listened to me discuss removing the toilet from the floor or renting a roto-rooter machine. Being an engineer I was determined that I was NOT going to hire a plumber to unclog our toilet, and I am sure he understood that as well.

Finally he spoke up and what he said was a stroke of genius! It was almost as if he had known all along what was clogging the toilet, and how the toilet had become clogged in the first place. With the tiny voice of a three year old he looked up at me and said....

"Maybe there's a comb in the toilet."

It was brilliant! It made so much sense, too. Why hadn't I thought of that. A comb! A simple comb. Like a filter which allowed the water to pass through, but which trapped the solids and kept them from passing down the drain.

I rolled up my sleeve and held my breath as I stuck my bare hand down into the toilet. Into the murky water I reached, past the toilet paper and other items, down into the bottom of the bowl. I reached into the drain as far as I could, until I was afraid I might get my hand stuck. I pushed harder and deeper and stretched my fingers into the unknown. Finally I felt something with my finger tips. I twisted around to get more room for my elbow which was now well into the toilet bowl as well. That extra twist was just what I needed to reach the object and grab it with the tips of my fingers. The object was wedged in the drain pretty good, but I was able to wiggle it around and finally it came loose. I carefully withdrew my arm from the drain and the toilet bowl and pulled the object out of the water.

There it was...

A large plastic comb.

How did he know?