Name one common glue-in-a-tube that won't dry out in the open air of a moist public bathroom, and yet capable of bonding a human instantly to a toilet upon contact.
Please.
I want to buy a bunch of it.
Just so you all know. My dh and I went down to take our camper to a victim of Rita and on the way back, we couldn't find a gas station that was open and I really needed to pee but we found a Home Depot in south eastern Texas and they have great bathrooms.
I can't believe some one sat on a public seat with out checking it out
Yeah, right. I always sit on a public toilet without looking at the seat. NOT! This smells of a setup by the "victim".
They left him there to rot? How can he sue if he rotted? I don't get it. :)
Stuck in the men's room at Louisville's Home Depot last October, Bob Dougherty began feeling chest pains. Shaking uncontrollably, Dougherty grabbed a bottle of nitro pills and took three before spilling the rest on the filthy floor.
A few minutes into his ordeal, a young employee named Greg walked into the room. Finally, Dougherty had help–or so he thought. Greg left the bathroom and reported Dougherty’s predicament on a walkie-talkie. Based on a report by Louisville Detective Cristi Gordanier, Greg said, "There's a guy on the crapper that needs help."
A head clerk and other employees heard the call but chose not to help because they didn’t like Greg's demeanor.
"They ignored Greg because he used inappropriate language," says Det. Gordanier's report.
History lesson: "Crapper" was a successful 19th-century English plumber who bought the patent for the first flushing toilet from Albert Giblin. Crapper marketed the device using his own name. Dougherty remained stuck. He was like a man adrift at sea who’d been spotted by a passing vessel only to be ignored. "I knew my heart was going to give out, but I had no phone. I couldn't get up, and nobody could hear me," he says.
Ten to 15 minutes later, a customer entered the bathroom and called 911. When paramedics finally arrived, they worked quickly to unbolt the seat from the toilet. They loaded Dougherty onto a pram on his side, propping his body with pillows and blankets in order to keep his weight from ripping the skin off his body.
"He lost consciousness and appeared to not be breathing," reads the paramedics' report.
So paramedics rolled Dougherty onto his back, which caused the seat to rip from his butt. Dougherty began breathing again and was treated at Boulder Community for chest pains and torn skin. In June, Dougherty was diagnosed with diabetes–which his doctor attributes to the glue incident.
"He does not have a family history of diabetes," wrote Dr. Melvin R. Stjernholm, M.D., of Boulder Endocrinology Associates. "This condition has been brought on by the extreme stress (PTSD) that he has been dealing with since that time."
If having one's butt glued to a toilet seat isn’t stressful enough, consider the way Home Depot treated Dougherty. They acted as if he didn't matter. They didn't call the hospital to check on him. They didn't apologize that he suffered as a guest at their store. They didn't offer to help with deductibles or the cost of Dougherty's ambulance ride. They didn't send a get-well card or a $10 gift certificate. Any of the above would represent civilized, kind, dignified behaviors that haven't been in vogue since the '80s.
"If someone trips on my sidewalk, even if I'm not at fault, I'm out there helping," Dougherty says. "I make sure the person is OK. These people wouldn't even send in help."
Police had a similar experience when asking Home Depot management for help in finding the gluer. Det. Gordanier left a message for Manager Joe Mack on Nov. 13. No response. She left another on Nov. 14. No response. Seven days after her initial inquiry, she tracked down Mack, who showed no interest in helping.
Dougherty's attorney, Mark Cohen, wrote to Home Depot's Consumer Affairs Department to ask for their internal safety guidelines. They responded with an e-mail:
"Thank you for your feedback. Listening to our customers is very important to us."
The e-mail promised that the Customer Care Department would "create a record of your feedback."
Among other things, Cohen was trying to find out if the company has restroom maintenance guidelines. Before Dougherty sat down, Cohen says he tried to grab "one of those waxed-paper, oval-shaped products that establishes a protective layer between a toilet seat and the skin." Dougherty calls it an "ass gasket" and suspects it would have saved his butt. Whatever one calls them, they were gone that day.
Dougherty's lawyer got no information from Home Depot for two reasons: The company doesn't care about Dougherty and is concerned only with covering its own butt. Even teenage aisle clerks have watched enough TV to know that helping someone in need comes with risk. Sending a get-well card to someone harmed on your toilet, or calling to wish him well, might be viewed as an admission of guilt. Besides, what’s in it for us?
The cover-your-own-butt-first mentality has led to physicians–even emergency room doctors–failing to give aid when coming upon injury accidents. We're all supposed to understand when it's explained that liability concerns preclude medical professionals from administering spontaneous first aid. In other words, "please understand that my financial interests are more important than another person’s life."
Theyre not.
Dougherty plans to sue Home Depot for its part in a trauma his doctor blames for his new chronic illness. I'm convinced Dougherty wouldn't be suing had Home Depot treated him with an ounce of care, concern or respect rather than tons of neglect. It's time the courts hold people accountable for not helping when confronted with life-threatening emergencies. A lawsuit can’t undo a prank that Home Depot likely didn't commit. But it might instill some court-ordered compassion that’s no longer in fashion.
kaching alert...sounds like he wants to win the lottery in court...
Yes, superglue can stick you to a toilet seat quite quickly, but if the previous person put it there, it would have dried quickly...
And you mean he sat down on an obviously wet seat? Women never do this...(I'll leave you men in suspense for what we do)...
15 minutes??? Thats it??
So, was this in the public toilet, or was this a toilet seat on display? Not enough information here!
Sometimes there is something worse than being stuck on a toilet seat. It is being stuck on stupid.
ping a ling...
Sounds like he was the butt of the joke.
I didn't know you could rot in 15 minutes.
Should have been a warning on the toilet seat. Negligence I tell you.