Toilet test leaves arena officials flushed with satisfaction
-
Shane Tappe and Sarah Roth, both of Shaler Area High School, take pictures in a bathroom at the Consol Energy Center during Thursday's "Student Flush" plumbing test.
Share with others:
It was the flush of a lifetime.
A total of 250 college-age students packed the restrooms at the Consol Energy Center on Thursday, and a keg wasn't even involved.
It was not nature but the Penguins who called, seeking help from them and others to test the plumbing at the new arena.
The students were all too happy to help out, particularly with a chance to get inside the team's new home on the line.
"I've never been so excited to flush a toilet in my life," gushed Stephanie Lasinski, 23, a Pitt graduate student.
With the command of "on your mark, get set, start flushing," the students and another 200 helpers recruited by arena contractors worked 384 toilets and 168 urinals in the arena for more than 15 minutes and seemed to enjoy every second of it.
"It's easier than my day job," said Nick Szelc, 20, an Indiana University of Pennsylvania student who details cars and who worked his BlackBerry as he flushed again and again and again.
The simultaneous flushing of all toilets and urinals -- not once, but multiple times -- was a required test in advance of the arena's August opening.
While such testing normally is done without fanfare in arenas and stadiums, the Penguins decided to make it an event, inviting students age 18 and older to register for a chance to hit the john and dubbing it the "Student Flush" after its popular Student Rush ticketing program.
The students approached the task with enthusiasm, snapping photos of the arena and its giant high-definition scoreboard. They even whipped out cell phones and cameras and took photos while in the restrooms -- impolite on most days but not this one.
"I think it's pretty neat to say I got to flush Mario Lemieux's urinals," said Sean Krupa, 22, who just graduated from Duquesne University.
"I'm pretty excited. I've been practicing making sure I'm not the one who messes up," added his friend, Anthony Ross, 23, also a recent Duquesne grad.
As she stood on the same floor where Sidney Crosby will skate in a few months, Katie Pasternak, 20, a Westminster College student, was awestruck.
First Published June 11, 2010 12:00 am
