Even wastewater gets SCs!

[Knightmare]

This is a new one for me. This lady must have forgotten her meds.

This happened yesterday (Thursday). The staff assistant (aka secretary) was the lucky one that took the calls.

SC calls mid-morning, complaining about a frog in her toilet. How did the frog get there? More than likely it got into her house and found its way into her loo. But according to her, the frog came up thru the sewer line and into her toilet.

SC says she wants someone to come out and remove the frog, and to find out where the frog could have gotten into the sewer line.

First of all, we don't do house calls. We are CITY. If its in your house, you call a plumber to take care of it. Your property, your responsibility.
Secondly, the frog could have gotten in anywhere. There are hundreds of miles of pipe, many storm drains and lift stations where critters love to crawl into to escape the heat.

SC called 4 times that day, demanding we come fix the "problem." SC said she couldn't use the toilet because of the frog. She demanded we check the sewer lines in her neighborhood for "frog sized holes" in the lines. Umm, no.

Finally, after the last phone call, the staff assistant filled us in on the calls. The WW director was there. He's a very cool guy (kinda looks like Santa Claus). He hears the story and says "Sounds like a fire department problem. You know kitten up a tree? Well, frog in a toilet is the same thing." Then the director looks around the room, looks at me and says "Knightmare, you have the most experience with customer service. Call her back and tell her that you'll come out retrieve the frog. Then check for open manholes on her street, and look at the storm drains while you're out there."

Me: WTF? "What? No way. I don't do house calls. I got out of the customer service jazz. Send Ralph." (Ralph is the Environmental Impact guy)
Dir: *laughs* "I just wanted to see if you'd actually go do it."
Me: "Yeah, that's right... Haze the new guy."

The director calls the woman back, and tells her that we won't be coming out to get the frog. He does tell her to flush her toilet and her frog problem will "disappear."

I'm glad I don't have to deal with this malarkey any more.

[air914]

LOL I love the "Flush the toilet and the frog problem will disappear". Come on it's a frog..... it's not a snake or something.... scoop it up with a tupperwear bowl, put a lid on it and throw it outside or something..... she must be very terrified of frogs..... I choose to be terrified if spiders - even had a nightmare about one last night...... [shudder] - but I still don't call the CITY anything to come kill the spiders in my house........

[justZu]

I don't see why she just didn't reach in and grab the frog. I mean, its not like she had an alligator in her toilet.
Oh, I know why, because if she had done that she would not be an SC.

I love it that you were supposed to check all of the sewer lines in the area, looking for a "frog-size hole". Yeah, that wouldn't be expensive or time consuming at all, nah not at all.

[delightfullydorky]

I think the "frog-sized hole" is where her brain is supposed to be.

[Shabo]

Let's assume there IS a frog sized hole... wouldn't that also mean there might be a frog sized leak? And if this is sewage... I think someone would notice eventually.

[Soulstealer]

Let's assume there IS a frog sized hole... wouldn't that also mean there might be a frog sized leak?

I'm imagining one of those cartoon holes in the walls that outlines the charachter perfectly after he smashes into it to escape somewhere. Maybe it was one of those budweiser frogs. My money is on the one who has to say 'er' all the time.


As for the frog scoop it out rinse it off and you have a pet for your kids or something to eat bugs in the yard.

[Rahmota]

You know you could have offered to backflush the system to search for leaks and see if she'd go for that.......And then she wouldnt have to worry about the frog.

[protege]

Heh. She's lucky it wasn't a salamander. When Grandma still lived in the country, we were always getting salamanders in the pipes. Her water came from a spring, and if a salamander was swimming near the intake pipe, it sometimes would get sucked into the system. They'd usually get caught in the entrance filter, where the pipe came into the house. However, if the filter was damaged or missing, they'd get into the toilets and sinks. Salamanders can be difficult to catch

[Foxglove8778]

He does tell her to flush her toilet and her frog problem will "disappear."

Oh No!!! Kermit!!!


I'm tellin' Miss Piggy...

[ReadyToRetire]

I found a squirrel in the toilet of a place where I used to live.
Don't know how it got there. The lid was down so it didn't get in there from the house. It had come up through the pipes somehow. It couldn't get out and apparently drowned in the bowl.
Sad, but funny.