Mean Mr. Mustard you feed watermelon rinds to the pigs. Or pickle them. (Tasty!)
It sounds like a cross cultural issue. I would try to understand why it was done and to make sure that the guest understands and is shown the proper way to dispose of fruit rinds and would be willing to respect it. That seems like the important part.
If it is something you are able to absorb the cost and they are in a worse off position to do so there is no need to penalize someone for simply not knowing, better to show kindness and understanding and offer the solution to them.
My WAG is that he comes from a area which uses outhouses or composting toilets and that may be common to also get rid of compostables that way.
Additionally it may be a blockage from something else, such as a kitchen drain that has backed into the toilet line and was plunged up the toilet.
I’d say split the cost. He’s offering to pay, which is a mature, sensible thing to do; reducing the amount is also mature and sensible on your part because you took a risk by inviting a stranger into your home.
If my daughter did this, I’d expect her to either pay for part of it or work some of the cost off. If I were renting a room from a family in a lodging situation, I’d also expect to be asked to pay at least part of the cost. I mean, it’s orange peel, not just an unusually large turd.
Is this an official homestay arrangement through an agency or school or an ad-hoc one? If it’s an official one, there should be a contract stating what costs you’re liable for, so check that. The agency or school might cough up part of the costs.
I’m not sure if toilet blockage so severe to require a plumber would be covered, but it might be. I’ve helped arrange homestays in the UK and I think for them it would be something not covered by the contract precisely (the contract would specify things like costs incurred due to fire damage or intentional breakage as being recoverable from the student/their family/the company, but I don’t remember seeing anything about blocked toilets), but we’d probably have paid part costs anyway in order to keep a good “home parent” on our books.
Lots of people take in kids or young adults for cross-cultural visits because they need the money. Even for exchanges, where your child goes to their home too, that’s partly due to finances.
If the kid comes from a first-world country, like it says in the OP, he won’t be from a place that uses only outhouses or compostable toilets, especially since he can afford to travel to the US. Even if he lives on a hippy commune somewhere in the West he’ll have used flushing toilets elsewhere.
What I came to say. Graciously minimize his embarrassment and get on with life.
It’s worth finding out why, and composting toilets seem to be making inroads into first world - outhouses not so much.
Nah, he was probably eating in his room, realized that’s not something a good guest does, panicked, and got rid of the evidence in the most sit-commy way possible.
Come on, do you really think this kid had never used a flushing toilet before?
If he’s still a guest when watermelons come in season, be sure to lock the bathroom door and get a port-a-potty for him to use outside.
We had a friend stay over for a long holiday weekend recently. She brought her boyfriend. They used the guest bed/bath. He plugged up the toilet with feces the first morning!
She explained their predicament and asked for a plunger. I offered to call a plumber, but she insisted, saying it happens all the time and he is used to it!:eek:
You just need to dehydrate the orange peel. Put a big pot on the stove full of water and then dump two or three boxes of salt into it. boil and pour down the drain. Let it sit overnight and then try a long flush. If that doesn’t work a gallon of bleach should break it up.
I would bet that he comes from a country with non-siphoning toilets. Those have much wider waterways. For example here in Germany and in much of the rest of Europe orange peel would be very unlikely to cause any problems. For a number of reasons you are still not supposed to flush garbage, but that’s often ignored.
Really? I know toilets in the US are smaller, but I wouldn’t expect orange peel to flush down either a German or a British toilet. It’s hard and it floats and it can’t be broken up. Maybe you should try it on your own toilet and report back.
I would want to find out the reason why, is this something common where he is from. I just put forth the composting toilet as a possible reason. Also consider post #32 and also the one right before yours, that he thought it was somehow ‘wrong’ to eat in his room and needed to dispose of the evidence.
Getting to the reason seems more important then assigning damages, as understanding would help this from reoccurring in different forms.
Also if his toilet at home is not a siphoning toilet but either a non-siphoning or composting or other he may have always thrown things down there in his home toilet, but wouldn’t in other situations because only at home would anyone actually be pealing and eating a orange while sitting on the toilet. The situation is rare enough to assume he never had such desire to do it while seated in a public restroom and it does seem odd to take a orange into a friends bathroom to eat while doing their business.
So while he may have used a ‘normal’ toilet, he would have not learned that it does not work with orange peals because the opportunity has never came up.
Easy for you to say that getting to the reason is more important when you don’t have to pay the plumber’s bills.
Also, why is getting to the reason so important? He’s already learnt not to do this again. This is hardly a big issue. Even the problem with the toilet wasn’t due to a big issue. 
If you can access the space directly under the toilet there is a removable piece in the U bend of the outlet pipe. You’ll need a large pair of pliers or a pipe wrench, but the piece simply unscrews. Once removed you can auger upwards, which is often more effective, or further down the pipe if that’s where the clog is. Do have a bucket ready to catch any “stuff” that may be trapped above the clog.
Failing that, removing and replacing a toilet is not that big of a job. If you did it yourself you would be out the cost of a wax ring at the local hardware store - less than $5. It’s a bit if a pain to empty and dry out the tank, but then it’s just a matter of taking off the 2 nuts holding the toilet to the floor (one on each side)and lifting the toilet out of the way. At that point you will likely be able to see and remove the clog.
Have the kid help with either process. YouTube has step-by-step how to videos of both.
Well, you can. But then you’d have to give “The Speech”.
[spoiler] "Now, look you. I’m well aware of cultural differences, but this is an orange, this is America, and this is My House. As long as you are under My Roof, you’ll only peel these things… With Your Fingers…!
No, I don’t care How talented you think you are… and whats more I don’t want to know. Peels, rinds and cores go in the basket and if you’re doing anything more… personal with them… when you’re done…
you wrap it in a bag and take it straight outside to the can. Are we Clear on this?
Good. I’ll be taking the cookies out of this basket now because I don’t want any trails of crumbs around the house…" [/spoiler]
OK - you win the thread
I think the poor kid was indeed very embarrassed, if shocked that orange peel would cause such a problem. He did offer to pay - but a plumber is very expensive around here (DC metro) and I know he doesn’t have spare cash. So I assured him it was No Big Deal and I’m sure it was partly due to backup of regular TP (yeah, I lied), but reminded him again that only digested food goes down the toilet.
I don’t know what kind of toilets are standard in Canada - I seem to recall reading somewhere that there was a bit of a black market for Canadian toilets when the US mandated low-flow toilets a couple decades ago, so perhaps he’s used to a more powerful one. I’m quite certain he wasn’t thinking “composting toilet”
(bolding mine) Sadly, I doubt that was what was going through his mind… good guests don’t leave the milk out, leave the bread wrapper open, leave squeezed lemon halves on the counter, ask to borrow the car then go w/o giving me a chance to answer… sigh.
We did wind up calling a plumber, who came and dealt with the plug in 10 minutes (sigh). Better skill with the auger, I suppose.
Is split it 50 /50, so nobody gets stuck with the full sting.
He probably has a medical issue that he has no reason to share with you. We have very powerful toilets that never back up - except when my mother-in-law comes to visit. She is the reason we have a plunger in every bathroom, even though our toilets never back up.