"An improperly handled human defecation resulted in a tomato plant taking root which was also destroyed."

One of my sister in laws is a civil engineer who does a lot of work with sewage treatment plants. She has commented that apparently tomato seeds can survive almost anything.

That’s not special to tomato seed. In fact, fruits being eaten and seeds defecated by animals in far out lands is why seeds are in the sweet, tasty, sugary fruits for the most part!

I get what you're saying, but apparently there is something special about tomato seeds. It's not that they're surviving a digestive track (by design) or my compost pile (something almost nothing else does...not a single squash, cucumber, okra, peach, apple, etc., etc. has done), they're surviving a sewage treatment plant. Bioreduction and chemical treatment. So...tomatoes are pretty cool.

I assume I'm not the only one who thought of that explorer song from "Moana" when they read the headline.

It's incredible that this happens within the course of a human lifetime. It really puts the sense-of-wonder behind all those Polynesian myths and stories in perspective.