Is handle being used here as an idiom as well?
Actually, I’ve talked to plumbers who say they’re not-they do tend to clog the toilet occassionally.
A plumber I know mentioned that it’s mostly because of the strings. They catch on stuff.
Also, a tampon may be smaller than some bowel movements, but it’s a whole lot more cohesive. In older homes with smaller pipes, they *can * be a problem.
I still flush, though. I rent. 
This is one of the many reasons I am so glad that I use a http://www.mooncup.co.uk/
The problem with tampons and toilets is that the blue fluid that tampons absorb is bad for the pipes.
Argh, that was supposed to say:
This is one of the many reasons I am so glad that I use a Moon Cup.
You know, my old English Professor moved into a new apartment once, and after the second month, her toilet stopped up and wouldn’t unstop. She called her landlord, who called a plumber. The landlord let him in while she was at work. When she got home, the plumber was standing over a shallow receptacle into which he had pumped something. Next to him was a somewhat attractive, middle-aged man. As she approached him, the plumber said, “You know, you really can’t flush these things. You gotta throw 'em out.” He was looking down at a huge pile of used condoms. Then the other man smiled and said, “How do you do, I’m Bob. I just moved in upstairs.”
So, you know, it could have been worse.
Um, what blue fluid? 
Whoosh!
(Ever see a tampon or pad commercial?)
I was taught that flushing them was a bad bad thing; it would cause clogged pipes and backed up drains and the fall of civilization and I don’t know what all else. Sometimes, when I did try to flush, they’d pop back up again hours later like some kind of gory bloated female version of Mr. Hanky. They’re devious like that. So I always just threw them away, which is pretty nasty, especially if you live with inquisitive dogs. Then I got my DivaCup and never looked back. I have a teenage boy. He’s seen tampons. So far he seems to be well-adjusted, no hysterical blindness or anything. Kids are resilient little critters.
Now see, to me, that expression conveys that it was only a “trifling incident”, i.e., a mere trifle, a bagatelle, not something worth getting upset over, which I then realize is actually exactly the opposite of what you did mean, which makes my head explode. Ouch. I hate the OP for its instructive use of a regional idiom.
Duh! I get it. :smack:
See, that is where it gets tricky. When someone does something trifling, the thing they do usually is not a big deal. It is more like “what you did isn’t the end of the world, but I am appalled that your mom didn’t teach you better.” As in this case. Or say, for instance that someone cuts in front of you in line at the movies.That’s trifling. Not the end of the world, but they SHOULD know better. You are more suprised that someone thinks it is okay to cut in line then you are upset that you have to wait 30 more seconds.
Does this help at all?
Off to MSPIMS.
It’s a tampon! OMG!
If it bothered you THAT much tell her. She’ll probably just laugh at you, but at least you’ll have got it off your chest.
I am amazed at the number of people are are unable to read a thread.
Once again, it wasn’t about a tampon. A tampon happened to be a charector in the story. The story was ABOUT people not preparing a house for visitors. It seems that people read the story, see the word “tampon” and immediatly think “well, this guy is clearly a jerk becuase he is disrespecting tampons and therefore disrespecting women!” No, no, no. This story could have involved a turd, and if you replaced “tampon” with “turd”, the story could otherwise have stayed the same. Except I would likely have recieved more sympathy and the thread would have turned into a bathroom joke thread. Instead of “Dude, sorry that you had to plunge someone elses toilet. You are right, if you had guests coming over, they should flush their own turds down the toilet!” I got “Dude, it is just a tampon, chill out!” Becuase the charector is a tampon instead of a turd, all the “Must be PC” comments come out.
Jeez. was the OP about friend’s wife? Or about my friends (plural) ? It was about the pair. Becuase either one of them should have checked the bathrrom before having guests over. It was never about “The Tampon”. I am sorry if I implied that it was. That was not my intention.
Sorry if I disrespected the almighty tampon.
But you know what? I still think that not cleaning up the bathroom when you are having people over, or at least flushing the toilet, is trifling. Saying “chill out about the tampon” is not going to change the fact that it WAS.NOT.ABOUT.THE.TAMPON.
I agree with the OP - when you have guests over, it is polite to not leave things lying around that neither you nor they want to see. Maybe you and your husband have an awesome sex toy collection, but you still probably want to put it out of sight before your family comes over for Christmas dinner (they probably won’t go in your bedroom, but they might, you know?).
There’s just no other word for it - leaving a used tampon floating around in a toilet bowl is gauche; doing that when guests are coming is gaucher (I think I just made up a word).
No, that’s not what “trifling” means at all.
I believe the word you’re looking for is “inconsiderate”.