Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Flattered by Flatulence



The first glance.  The first hand-hold.  The first kiss.  The first date.  The first time. 

There are many important firsts in a relationship, but some are more meaningful than others.  My favorite first has got to be the first fart. 

The first fart may or may not be intentional.  It could happen while sitting on a couch watching a movie and someone lets one rip then laughs with a sort of pride about their own fart.  This is usually the way that first farts happen when you are in high school or dating college boys…or just immature men, of which, I assure you I am an expert.  When you get older, wiser, more mature, and all the other good things that supposedly come with age, the first fart usually happens in a different, albeit, more embarrassing way.  It may happen on accident like when you are sitting on someone’s lap, and despite your impressive sphincter control, you laugh too hard and it pops right out.  It might happen because of that ethnic food you insisted on trying for your date because you were trying to be exotic and exciting. 


My most favorite first fart experience so far happened last Saturday night.   When I was home for Christmas I reconnected with a man from my past with whom I had a lot of history with but the timing was always terrible.  We instantly fell right into each other’s arms again and he bought a plane ticket to come visit me in NYC.   He is an incredibly sweet, polite, soft-spoken man who has no idea how incredibly gorgeous and sexy he is.  It’s slightly intimidating.  Which is why what happened on Saturday was a welcomed blessing to level the playing field.  We were laying in bed after deciding to ditch our crazy night-on-the-town plans and he was falling asleep while I was finishing up Freaks and Geeks (I know, I am way late on that train).   Out of nowhere, ripping loudly over my laptop speakers and noisy radiator, came a vibrating fart so intense that it startled him awake.  With one quick jerk of his entire body he was alert and his head snapped to the left looking at me with stunned, wide eyes.  I could have been sweet and acted like I didn’t hear anything, but a fart that startled him awake like that?…I wouldn’t have been fooling anyone.  It was obvious I had heard and it was literally impossible for me to stop cracking up for about five minutes.  I am sure his stomach felt much better after his debut fart, but my stomach was now sore from all the laughter.  Honestly though, it kind of made me want to love him. 

Although I am not opposed to initiating the lean-in for the first kiss I like to let the guys take the lead on this particular first.   And let’s be clear here, I am still a lady.  Just because a guy farts in front of me for the first time doesn’t mean it is free reign to let the flatulence fly.  I try to let mine creep out as silent as possible when I am in the company of others, and only when absolutely necessary, then I vehemently deny that I was to blame for the stench.  I try.  That’s not always exactly how it happens. 

The benefit of the first fart is that it provides you with an opportunity to laugh and bond over a perfectly normal, and might I add, healthy, bodily function.  Kind of like an inside joke.  You just shared a semi-private moment and you handled it with a cool, carefree sense of humor.  Kudos.

Crossing that first fart threshold marks the beginning of a new chapter in your relationship.  It is when people stop being on their best behavior and start just being them selves.  Do you think married couples hold their farts in? 

I have a friend who used to walk into another room to fart ever since she was a little kid.  She wouldn’t fart in front of her parents and towards the beginning of our friendship she would walk into another room to do her tooting.   Eventually we became roommates and at some point she stopped leaving the room to fart.  There comes a time when it is just too much trouble and when you know it doesn’t really matter to the other person.  I imagine most marriages reach that point pretty quickly.  There’s a fart and maybe someone jokes about it, maybe it goes unacknowledged.   But with the average person farting 14 times a day, at some point farts probably start getting boring. 

Unless they involve a Dutch Oven.  Never boring.  Never not funny.  


Fart Facts <---For some fun farting facts

Japanese Fart Scrolls <--- Japanese Fart Scrolls, because they are depicting a Fart Battle and that is hilarious.  




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