The shit, piss and vomit of Pyne Hall: Janitor tells all
WARNING: YOU MAY FIND SOME OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS IN THIS POST DISGUSTING.
Mondays are tough for everyone, but when it comes to cleaning dormitories at Princeton, they’re truly the worst. After a weekend of partying and heavy drinking, students leave behind trash, destruction and a puzzling amount of human waste.For John*, a campus janitor in Pyne Hall, the mess is part of his weekly routine.“I get upset every once in a while, but you just have to understand that it’s going to be dirty,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s just Monday.”
On his daily sweep of the laundry room, hallways, trashcans, and bathrooms, John said he often finds urine, feces and vomit in unexpected places. Because students don’t have private bathrooms in Pyne, he said they often resort to peeing in trashcans, which they place outside for collection.One morning, John recalled finding a bottle of urine while unloading the trash. The bottle was fairly large and hadn’t been closed correctly.“It exploded. I was coved in urine and orange juice,” John said. “Just the other day, I got it all over my arm.”The worst part, he said, was that he had to finish his rounds before going home to change.
Although this year’s residents have been more considerate than in the past, John said bathroom fixtures are often damaged over the weekend. A memorable example is when he found toilet stall doors on the floor. In Henry Hall, shower heads were ripped off of the walls.“The destruction is always in the men’s bathroom,” John said, adding that many of his coworkers in other buildings face the same issues.“Everybody says they got the worst dorm on campus,” he chuckled. “They’re all pretty much the same.”John said that he has never caught anyone “in the act” during his regular cleaning hours. However, the culprits are easier to spot during reunions.“They don’t care,” he said. “There’s a lot of drinking.”It was during reunions that John found seven piles of human feces in the laundry room, a story he said people still find hard to believe.If you’re having trouble picturing it, here’s a specimen from Henry Hall taken a few weeks ago:
John let out a warm laugh when I asked him how this made him feel about Princeton students.“That’s what happens when you have too much to drink,” he said. “Some kids just can’t handle it.”Although he hasn’t had discussions with the administration over student behavior, John said that he sometimes shares his concerns with residents whom he considers friends. Dormitory assistants have also requested that students clean up after themselves.“There are just some kids that are disrespectful,” he said. “Other than that it’s a great place to work. It’s beautiful here.”*Name has been changed.-AW