I don’t claim to be an expert on people’s habits of breaking wind. It’s not something that we talk about that often. Only family and the closest of friends usually discuss it. But as a rule, people don’t usually fart in public. We don’t even talk about it in a lot of situations. The scale of whether we talk about it goes hand in hand with the scale of whether we do it. For formal events, dinners, religious services, and business meetings it is an absolute no-no. Home settings are usually where it is more acceptable but even then, I’m sure the rules vary from family to family. Families with younger kids might be more accepting of a bottom burp that a family with older kids. It really depends on when and to what extent the parents try to instill good manners in the kids.
There are a couple of other factors that figure into the acceptability of a toot: the intensity of the volume and aroma. A quiet, scentless bubbler would go unnoticed in most situations and would be considered acceptable while the malodorous thunderclap may be unwelcomed even if you are alone.
Then there are times when we are in an environment with friends where we feel free to let them rip without reserve. I have observed a variety of poses, postures and stances that one might assume when letting one off. When standing, these include the squat, jutting out of the buttocks and the leg lift. When sitting, one tends to lean to one side. This would be the sitting equivalent of the leg lift. (I wonder if we show a preference for lifting one leg or leaning to one side more than the other, like being righthanded or left handed?) I’m not sure that any of these facilitate the wind movement. In the least reserved situations, a windbreaker might lay down on their back and pull both legs up to their chest. This posture is most often used when there are attempts at fart lighting. Because public flatulence is unacceptable, people passing gas in public generally try to avoid any of these positions so at to help conceal what they are doing.
Now my moment of confession. I occasionally pass gas in public. I know you are surprised. I know I am probably alone in doing this. The whole purpose of this post is to share this story. One evening, I needed to go back to work to pick up something from my office. I walked into the employee entrance and had to walk by the receiving dock to get to my office. When I walked into the building, it appeared to be break time because I didn’t see anyone in the dock area. As I walked toward my office, I felt the urge to release a raspberry. Because I didn’t see anyone on the dock, I was alone, and it didn’t really matter how I did it. As a walked, I lifted my leg as I beeped my horn. As my foot returned to the floor I looked across the dock and saw a young woman looking directly at me. She was far enough away, and it was loud enough that I don’t think that she heard me. But I knew that she saw me and knew exactly what I had just done. I also knew that there was nothing that I could do to pretend like I was doing something else. It wasn’t even like the situations when you might let a smelly one rip in a store and you walk away quickly hoping no one associates the odor with you. I had done this and she saw me do it. And every time I see her to this day, I know she thinks about the day she saw me fart.