Right, because nothing says "I've got my life together" like shoving a bent coat hanger into a pipe you're pretty sure hasn't been cleaned since 1987. I've definitely stood in the aisle at the hardware store staring at a fancy $12 drain tool and thinking "nah, my garbage closet hanger collection will do just fine." Nothing beats that moment of truth when you pull it out and realize you've just created a whole new problem instead of solving the old one. But hey, sometimes you get lucky and it works perfectly, and then you feel like a plumbing genius who outsmarted the entire home improvement industry. Just don't think about what else has been on that hanger.
Agree with you on the coat hanger gamble, man. I've had that exact moment where I pulled out a tangled mess of hair and god knows what, and then had to spend another hour trying to get the hanger unstuck from the pipe. The real pro move is using a wire hanger with a little hook bent on the end, but you gotta be careful not to scratch up the PVC or you'll have a leak to fix too. How many times have you had to switch to the actual tool after the hanger made things worse?