Time to Get a New Phone

1010 WINS, NEW YORK ^ | Oct 30, 2003 11:43 pm US/Eastern | 1010Wins

[Calpernia]

A man's arm got stuck in the toilet of a commuter train when he tried to fish out his dropped cell phone -- halting his train and sending delays throughout the rail system.

Thousands of commuters were delayed and several trains were rerouted while rescue workers tried to pull him out, a Metro-North Railroad spokesman said Thursday.

"When this moron's arm went down the crapper, so did our evening commute," said Metro North's Dan Brucker.

Edwin Gallart, 41, of the Bronx, dropped his cell phone in the toilet of his Mount Vernon-bound train shortly after it left Grand Central Terminal during rush hour on Wednesday, Brucker said.

The train was held at the Fordham Station after a passenger heard Gallart's cries for help.

When train workers failed to pry Gallart's arm free, police officers and firefighters were called in to blowtorch the stainless steel toilet apart.

In the meantime, all 600 passengers aboard the train had to be put on other trains and all northbound trains had to be rerouted, causing significant delays and thousands of dollars in additional costs for Metro-North, which might seek damages from Gallart, Brucker said.

"We have the option of seeking a recompense of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money that went down the drain along with his cell phone," Brucker said.

Gallart's home telephone number was unlisted so he couldn't be reached for comment. And, of course, he didn't have his cell phone.

[Calpernia]

***When train workers failed to pry Gallart's arm free, police officers and firefighters were called in to blowtorch the stainless steel toilet apart.***

Since wireless phones now have PORTABLE numbers....was this REALLLY worth it?????

[Calpernia]

[camle]

boy what a sh!tty thing to have happened!

[mewzilla]

Jeez louise, would the guy really have wanted to use it if he'd succeded in fishing it out?? EUWWW!

[LibWhacker]

Must've been one of those gold Gucci phones.

[per loin]

Reminds me of the Dean Martin scene with the spitoon.

[Norman Conquest]

Read it as a parable.
Democratic party = Gallart.
The remaining shards of their dignity and integrity = the phone.
And the eight years of the Clinton administration = ?

[snopercod]

If he had retrieved it, I'm thinking that the audio quality would have been crappy anyway.

[camle]

my guess is that he had a stinker of a day!

[Calpernia]

Humor Ping

[jmc813]

"When this moron's arm went down the crapper, so did our evening commute," said Metro North's Dan Brucker.

WTH? 10 bucks says this guy is looking for a new job next week.

[mewzilla]

If he had retrieved it, I'm thinking that the audio quality would have been crappy anyway.

LOL. Can you hear me now?

[ClearCase_guy]

Ya know, I had heard that Steve Bartman had gone into hiding and was using a new name ... Edwin Gallart.

[snopercod]

LOL. Can you hear me now? Now I'm LOL! Wouldn't that make a great commercial? Some geek with $hit dripping off his horn-rimmed glasses saying "Can you hear me now"? I love it!

Actually, I think I know how the phone got into the toilet. When I used to work in power plant construction, we all had to use porta-potties. We used to carry our communication radios in our back pockets. There was a guy who forgot to remove his before he dropped his pants, and the $1200 Motorola went "plop" down into that mess.

He fished it out.

[mewzilla]

Eeee! My little bro did the same thing once! Same way. He fished his out and then disposed of it, though :) Maybe guys should think about using a purse :)

[MrConfettiMan]

No way, man. That line is priceless. Only in NYC can you get away with saying something like that in a situation like this. He's right. The Manhattan area commute sucks and the jackass who stuck his arm down the crapper only made it worse. I was laughing my ass after I read Mr. Brucker's comment and I'm betting most of the paper's readers enjoyed it, too.

[Rad_J]

***When train workers failed to pry Gallart's arm free, police officers and firefighters were called in to blowtorch the stainless steel toilet apart.***

Hey Homer, are you still holding onto the cell phone?

Homer: Why do you ask???

[Calpernia]

ROFL!

[ladyinred]

Since wireless phones now have PORTABLE numbers....was this REALLLY worth it?????

Thank goodness there is an R in there. For just one second I thought you said POTABLE numbers! :-D

[M. Peach]

Reminds men of the time I saw some guy with a coat hanger fishing out something from an outhouse. He said he dropped his coat down the hole.

I asked him if he was going to wear it again, and he said, "Heck no, but there's a perfectly good tuna sandwich in the pocket..."