Whilst toilets are intended to carry waste and unwanted entities from our homes, it’s therefore surprising how many items of value are dropped into toilets each year. The following is a list of the most common ones, as well as some prime examples.
1) Mobile phones
Phones are perhaps the most obvious choice in this list, for they are both high in value and relatively easy to drop in the toilet, often slipping from trouser pockets. It’s estimated that around 850,000 mobile phones are dropped in toilets each year in the UK alone, which is quite simply astounding, and the damage is often irrevocable.
2) mP3 players
In fact, following on from the idea of phones, most small electrical devices are easily dropped in toilets, owing to their size and frequent usage. The damage is usually devastating, and prices of mP3 players range from fifty to five hundred pounds, so it’s no wonder they take precedence in the list of most valuable items dropped down the toilet.
3) Wallets
Wallets and purses also have a habit of slipping from pockets, and the relative value of such a loss is usually due to the contents of the wallet, rather than the actual piece itself. A perfect example would be of the woman from Oldenzaal in the Netherlands, who flushed 900 Euros of her holiday money down the toilet by mistake.
4) Books
Books are also commonly dropped into toilets, and whilst the actual cost of most books remains relatively low, it’s their importance to us that makes them so valuable. For example, they could be school or work books, or manuscripts, and the water usually renders them useless and unreadable, causing the paper to at best discolour, and at worst disintegrate completely.
5) Pets
This does happen more frequently than you’d think! One cannot even begin to place a value on pets, for they are not objects but living, breathing sentient beings, who give us love and companionship. A perfect example is the story of a two day old kitten in Australia, who got flushed down the toilet and survived, or similarly the British puppy. However, the perpetrators are usually toddlers, and the word ‘dropped’ is loosely used in this context (a better word perhaps being ‘placed’).
6) Glasses
Again, while the actual cost of the damage or loss may be low, the nuisance of dropping your glasses in the toilet earns them a place on this list. Furthering this idea, dropping your contact lenses in the toilet is even more exasperating, as they are far more difficult to find again, not to mention the hygiene implications that come with such a feat.
7) Jewellery
All items of jewelry are relatively small, and can easily become detached from the body and dropped in the toilet, such as earrings and bracelets. However, perhaps the most poignant of all jewelry pieces to undergo this torture in the engagement ring. Not only are engagement rings high in sentimental value, they are also typically the most expensive pieces of jewelry that people wear.
8) Watches
Similarly, watches are also easily dropped in the toilet. Many people remove watches and other jewelry items when showering, and leaving loose belongings lying round a wet and steamy bathroom is a recipe for disaster. Some watches can also be grouped alongside the small electricals, like phones and mP3 players, as they can become permanently damaged from immersion in water.
9) Children’s toys
Like many items on this list, the value of children’s toys comes not from their actual cost, but from the sentimentality that comes with them. However, when beloved toys are dropped in the toilet, all the horrible connotations that surround toilets and hygiene permanently mar them, and you cannot help but view them in a new light forever more. It’s almost as if they become devalued.
10) Keys
Keys are also placed haphazardly in various pockets of jackets and trousers, and can be easily dropped, especially when in a hurry. It’s for this reason that keys feature on this list. Car keys are obviously incredibly important, and expensive to replace, and house keys represent the safeguard to all of our personal belongings, and so too are highly valuable.
Photo by Ultra999
To narrow the chances of you dropping something valuable down your bathroom toilet make sure your toilet seat is closed, lessening the chances of an accidental plop.
