things that go flush in the night
Conversation overheard in the bathroom stalls at a movie theater:
1st Woman: Why is it that some people don't flush?
2nd Woman: Ew. I don't know.
[pause]
2nd Woman: I actually have this irrational fear of flushing the toilet in the middle of the night.
1st Woman: Oh, because of the noise?
2nd Woman: Yeah.
1st Woman: Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm like that sometimes too.
I've never thought of a toilet flush sound as scary, though I have been unnerved by the squeaky whine of the post-flush pipes in my sister's apartment. I could understand not wanting to wake someone up by flushing, but fear of the noise, no.
It makes more sense if I classify it as a night sound in general, put it in a genre of sounds. Night sounds are creepy, perhaps because they sound louder than normal. Creaks in the beams become cracks in the walls as you lay in bed. The noises come out of silence, disturb the peace.
But what got me was that 1st Woman knew the reason for the other woman's irrational fear. My first guess would have been because you feel like you might be sucked down the toilet if there's no one around to help you. Apparently, the woman isn't as irrational as I am.