In the polite company of others

Yesterday after lunch, Addison asked to come play at my work for a few minutes. They have some visitation rooms with lots of toys and she loves to play there every once in awhile. In the midst of her playing, she abruptly stops and worriedly asks, “I need to fart, is there a place to fart around here?”. Stifling my laughter, I tell her where the bathroom is. She honestly just needed to expel gas. I’m sure she’ll appreciate this story when she’s older. :P

But that brings a thought to mind. Why don’t we have farting rooms? Most people just do it where they are to the displeasure of those around them, but if we had a flatulence room maybe this would lessen our exposure. There have been patents and inventions for special fart-pants, though I can’t help but think that having an air-tight pair of undergarments on would host a multitude of other issues, let alone the comfort value.

In America, flatulence is not acceptable. In other countries, it’s as common and acceptable as a cough. I remember a few years ago reading a news blurb about some boys kicked off a school bus for farting. A bit extreme, no? I’m sure there were other factors at hand – pre-teen boys can be quite gross and unruly at times. I suppose I wouldn’t have wanted to be on that bus either. If farts were more socially acceptable, this wouldn’t have been an issue. You don’t hear of many cases where a kid was teased relentlessly for coughing, do you?

Anyway, farts are gross and smelly and you shouldn’t do it in the company of others if at all possible (and I think it’s possible most times). My daughter has learned to not do it in the polite company of others. Although, my car hasn’t been the same since she used to leave stink bombs before I let her out for school. Thanks for that Addison. Karma.