Is it just me and my friend or is this habit unacceptable?

My friend's boss, a man of European descent, has this habit of passing wind in their presence. She has never socialised with him beyond the office, so she has no idea whether he just does it in the presence of his employees, or in the presence of close relations. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • She told me that her boss, a man of European descent, has this habit of passing wind in their presence. She has never socialised with him beyond the office, so she has no idea whether he just does it in the presence of his employees, or in the presence of close relations such as friends and family too.
  • A week later, the man did the same thing during a meeting, and since he is the boss, my friend and her colleagues sat there, pretending not to have heard or smelt anything. The only saving grace was that one of the windows was open.
  • My friend is yet to establish whether her boss’ habit is a cultural or social influence, you know, that where he comes from it is acceptable to give in to the urge of passing wind wherever you are irrespective of who you are with; or whether it is because he looks down on them .

A couple of months ago, a friend told me a story that made my mouth pop open in disbelief.

She told me that her boss, a man of European descent, has this habit of passing wind in their presence. She has never socialised with him beyond the office, so she has no idea whether he just does it in the presence of his employees, or in the presence of close relations such as friends and family too.

The first time she heard, (and smelt) him do it, he had called her to his office. They were discussing a certain report when he paused for a second, shifted a bit on his seat, and then let out a loud one.

Understandably, my friend had been embarrassed on behalf of her boss, assuming that he had done it by accident. In fact, she had expected him to bashfully apologise, but he resumed the conversation they had been having as if nothing had happened or, rather, as if what he had done was perfectly acceptable.

By then, the small room was stinking to high heavens, and my dismayed friend, who was fighting hard not to scrunch up her nose in distaste, could not wait to get out of there and take a gulp of much-needed fresh air.

A week later, the man did the same thing during a meeting, and since he is the boss, my friend and her colleagues sat there, pretending not to have heard or smelt anything. The only saving grace was that one of the windows was open, otherwise the stink bomb would have made them go into a coma.

NATURAL ACT

Nowadays, whenever he calls any of them to his office, they give each other knowing looks, aware of what might be awaiting the unlucky person. They have also given him a nickname that I will not repeat here, since it would be impolite.

My friend is yet to establish whether her boss’ habit is a cultural or social influence, you know, that where he comes from it is acceptable to give in to the urge of passing wind wherever you are irrespective of who you are with; or whether it is because he looks down on them and couldn’t be bothered if he offends them or not, or whether he is simply a bad-mannered human being.

Granted, passing wind is a natural act, and sometimes, I guess one cannot help themselves, especially when a bloated stomach is at play. However, even those who succumb to this natural act in public have the decency to pretend that they did not do it, and will even fan the air in front of their noses and pretend disgust and outrage.

It could be though, that I am writing from a suppressed point of view – there could be some reading this and wondering what I am going on about, because this is something they routinely do in public, within earshot of those around them. I don’t remember being spanked for passing wind, but I also don’t remember freely doing it in the presence of others, it just wasn’t something you did at home, even though I don’t remember being told not to do it.

Thinking about it though, ours is a suppressed society in some ways – we are encouraged to keep quiet rather than say something that will offend, we shoo off our children when there are visitors around and expect them to be miniature well-behaved adults when others are around.

But who am I kidding? Whether a suppressed personality is to blame or not, I believe it is distasteful to pass wind ovyo ovyo, with no tact. Do it quietly if the craving is too much to bear, or wait until everyone gets out of the room. Please.