I know, this never happens to anyone. In fact, I am probably the only person that this has ever happened to and it will probably never happen to me again so this information is probably never going to be useful ever again. But, just in case you ever find yourself in the same predicament that I was in this afternoon, here is what to do.
First, let me describe what the scenario was. I was doing the dishes this afternoon like a good housewife and realized that the water was not going down the drain. So of course I do what I always do when this is the case. I turned on the garbage disposal. Like usual, I forgot to feel around in the drain first to make sure there were no spoons, etc. in the drain. (That's how we are currently down one baby spoon but who's counting?) Anyway, I didn't check first and apparently there was something in the drain but it was not a baby spoon this time. So the garbage disposal sounded a little funny but not that crunchy grinding sound like you may be familiar with if you too forget to check first before turning it on. Nope, this was a funny sucking sound. I let the disposal run for a little and realized that it was not turning my dishwater into the whirlpool that it usually does so I figured it was clogged or something. I turned off the garbage disposal, waited for what was probably way longer than necessary but hey, I've seen the horror movies, I know what happens when you put your hand in a garbage disposal too soon, and no, I don't want to practice my horror film scream anytime soon. So I finally reached my hand down and hit something flat. Hmm, now what in the world could that be??? I feel around, and find a ring from a mason jar. I feel around some more and realize that I can feel the rubber ring of the flap from the mason jar. Well, at least I know what it is. Now, how do I get it out of there???
I tried prying it up with my finger nail. Didn't work. I tried some of my heavy duty fridge magnets (Well they hold the millions of pieces of paper on the fridge so why wouldn't they pull a mason jar flap out of my drain?) Didn't work. I tried prying it up with a cheese spreader. Yes, I said a cheese spreader and no, it didn't work either. Then a light bulb went on. I ran upstairs to the linen closet and got the plunger. After a few failed attempts, a few moments of "how am I gonna explain this one to my husband?", and a few moments of "well now, this will make a funny blog entry", finally I had some success! The flap popped up, I quick grabbed it before the water could suck it back in, and the water went down the drain. So there you have it. The next time you find yourself in a situation where there's a flap stuck in your drain, use the plunger!
