Fartphobia

Back in the day, when I was taking too many sociology courses, I ran across an academic paper titled "The Fart Taboo." No shit! The idea that tenured scholars, pulling down plump pay packets, could while away their days mooting fart theories, struck me at the time as evidence of societal decline, at the very least. Or even the total collapse of civilization, on a bad day. Thirty years on, the fart taboo remains strong. Spent the weekend with one of the kids down in the city. They have a nice apartment in a decent part of town, but there's only one bathroom, and it's within earshot of everbody in the joint. All of a sudden you get hyper-aware of your farts. You find yourself trying to stifle a natural bodily function. The fart taboo is alive!