Sanitary conditions

[Julie Dawn]

Until the mid 19th century sanitary conditions would often be no more than a wooden hut at the bottom of the garden that emptied into the river.

One day the father of the house came in and said,
“Son, who pushed the toilet into the river?”
“Not I father.”
I’ll ask you again, “Who pushed the toilet into the river?”
Once again the boy said, “Not I father.”

The father said, “Let me tell you a story. When George Washington was a boy, one day his father came in and asked, who chopped down my favorite apple tree? After a moment’s hesitation George Washington said, I cannot tell a lie father, it was me. He owned up and told the truth and for that he did not get punished.”

So son, I’ll ask you yet again, “Who pushed the toilet into the river?”
After a few moments reflection on the George Washington story the boy said,
“I’m sorry father, it was me.”

With that admission he got the biggest thrashing of his life.

Sometime later through the snivels and tears he said to his father, “You said that when George Washington chopped down his father’s apple tree and told the truth he didn’t get punished.”

To which the father replied, “That’s true son, but when George Washington chopped down his father’s favorite apple tree, his father wasn’t up it, but when you pushed the toilet in the river, I was in it.”

[BlonT]

way to go