Scrubbing the toilet bowl of the soul

If I were prone to dispensing folksy wisdom, I would say "I reckon a man who scrubs his own toilet has no choice but to be honest with himself." Or to put it in Shakespearean terms: To thine own bowl scrub true, for as the flush follows the brush, thoust canst be false to oneself.

It's hard to believe that you are farther up the ladder than anyone else. It shows that your willing to do the dirty work like anyone else. It is also a good anecdote for a swollen ego, lying to yourself, believing your infallibility or any other kinds of folly.

Not that this happens to me a lot. But this can be an acquired personality flaw among college-educated white collar workers who have never worked in a blue collar job and may believe they have never actually touched a toilet (ya know, the foot flushers).

If you really want a heavy dose of modesty, take apart the toilet seat that a 5 year old boy has tortured with a thorough and repeated urine soak and clean each part. Of course, urine is a natural disinfectant, and sailors used to clean their clothes in it (back in the wooden ship days when no one smelled good). Anyway, you could say I was real humble yesterday.