Nine-Year-Old Boy Fascinated by Toilets

Bill's Comment: Toilet Humor, Part I
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Nine-Year-Old Boy Fascinated by Toilets

Tue Jan 4, 9:15 PM ET

MASSILLON, Ohio - Nine-year-old Joey Sinay is so interested in how toilets work that he wrote a letter to a toilet maker asking if they would produce a clear commode.



"He thought it would be neat to have a clear toilet in his house, so he can see how it works," said Joey's father, Nick Sinay.


The letter to Kohler, a Wisconsin-based plumbing product company, sent last year when Joey was 8, caught the company's attention.


"It's pretty unusual to get a letter like that from an 8-year-old," said John Bashaw, the company's custom service director.


A clear toilet wasn't doable. But officials at Kohler wrote back twice. "We were so impressed by the fact that he took the time to write us a letter," Bashaw said.


In December, the little plumber from Massillon got a present from Kohler — a state-of-the-art bulk flush toilet.


Joey, who keeps a toolbox under his bed, was nearly speechless. A local plumber agreed to help the boy install his dream gift.


"When we built our home, we would come over a lot when they were building it, and he followed the plumber around. He would just watch," said Michelle Sinay, Joey's mother.


With Dennis Potter of Ohio Spa & Parts taking the lead, Joey helped remove the old upstairs bathroom toilet and install the new one.


Potter taught the youngster how to install a toilet. He gave him tips and quizzed him on the many functions. By the end, Joey was working on it by himself.


Among his duties, Joey disconnected and carried out the old toilet tank. He unwrapped the new toilet seat, screwed it onto the bowl and discarded the product sticker.


Joey, smiling the entire time, was eager to learn from a real life plumber.


"Plumbers are guardians of the nation's health because they take care of everything," Potter told his apprentice.


For Joey, it wasn't all that deep.


"It was just fun to put it together," he said.