The owner of a gas station in Florida has a bizarre problem. He claims that random people have been using the microwave to heat urine.
Parul Patel, owner of On the Fly convenience store and BP gas station in Jacksonville, said that he is fed up of people walking in and using the microwave to warm their container of urine.
“We got sick and tired of people bringing their urine containers,” Patel told the First Coast News . “They’re just random people walking and it’s happening every day.”
Worse, the people who do this are not even Patel’s customers. They just walk in off of the street, microwave their containers of urine, and then leave.
Patel’s problem appears to have something to do with the location of the gas station. It is just within walking distance of Quest Diagnostics and a LabCorp. These two companies offer drug testing services and collect urine samples.
Patel said that some people who walked into the store were so desperate to pass the test they become violent when they are asked to leave.
Patel cited one instance that occurred a few months ago. One woman became so aggressive when she was asked to leave.
“She started cussing at me,” Patel said. “She said, ‘well where is the sign that says you can’t use this for this kind of purpose.’ ”
The incident prompted Patel to post a sign on the microwave that reads “Only for food use. Do not warm urine.”
Why do people heat urine in a microwave for urinalysis?
Medical experts say that one of the quality measures for a urine drug test is to make sure that the urine is at a body temperature. People who want to submit urine samples at the ideal temperature may resort to heating them up.
“We know whatever the ambient temperature is, maybe that’s 70 degrees, whatever the day is.” Medical Expert Comilla Sasson told 9News in May after a woman preparing for a urine test blew up a 7-eleven microwave. “Now you feel the need to warm it up to body temperature, maybe that would be a reason to put it into a microwave.
The woman, Angelique Sanchez, had to undergo a urinalysis for a job and used the store’s microwave oven to heat up urine. The microwave, unfortunately, exploded several seconds after she placed the liquid into it. Police issued her a summons for the damaged property as a result of the incident.
