Frequently Flatulent

There is a saying that a rich man has a canopy over his bed and a poor man has a can of pee under his bed. Does having the canopy make the rich man more refined. Or does the poor man's can of pee simply point to his practicality? What does it mean to be cultured?And how are the unspoken rules of etiquette determined? As the title indicates this blog is about farting, inspired by the frequency, and unapologetic mater of factness of which it occurs amongst the Palawano people...including the ladies.

Why is flatulence embarrassing, my grandpa would say, “Its just wind”, to which we kids would all chuckle, but grandma would say, “Don't laugh.” In the American culture it is especially awkward when the weight of the evidence convicts the culprit but the individual plays dumb and doesn't even crack a smile to accept the verdict that everyone knows. When my father is the guilty one he blaims it on the dog. But this is not with out some warrant, the dog often scares itself when she farts, then looks behind her as if to say, “Who did that, it obviously wasn't me.”

The one constant cultural norm I have observed is that kids everywhere laugh at flatulence, even if when they do so they are frowned upon. But like the fart, the laughter is natural and sometimes cannot be stifled. As kids when we were accused of farting we'd say, “You smelt it you dealt it” to which there was a ready comeback, “You said the rhyme, you committed the crime.”

Why is it that flatulence is a crime that breaks the unspoken law of etiquette in the American culture, while in the Palawano society everyone is at liberty to fart? My wife unintentionally experienced this liberty one day... Still bound by her National law of etiquette she was embarrassed and the Palawano's laughed not so much at the fart itself but at her obvious embarrassment.

I am also not yet adjusted to the frequent flatulence. I still find it bizarre to witness girls fart while I am teaching them math. They only get embarrassed when I can't help but notice and smile. As for myself I am a silent assassin. No one ever hears me, but that doesn't mean that the deadly gas has not all ready been released. I sometimes joke with my sister that I only fart 3 times a year, to which she laughingly replies, “That's going to make you have issues.”

Maybe flatulence is good for one's health, and the release of a little hot air is ok. Perhaps all the pent up hot air causes some society's to take themselves to seriously. Making it so a fart is classified under the exalted vernacular of flatulence. But a fart is a fart and calling it flatulence doesn't change the fact. Like the poor man's can of pee, simple can mean functional, not necessarily less refined.

Yes the Palawano's do fart frequently. However the fact of the matter is they call flatulence what it is, “atut.” Maybe the issues of self exaltation and pride would vaporize like a fart in the wind if people didn't take themselves so seriously. The prescription for hot heads is simple, release a little hot air once and awhile.