When a person "breaks wind" in a noisy manner, are you compelled to comment?

My impulse is always to try to minimize the embarrasment of the “offender”, which usually means carrying on as though nothing had happened. Whatever urges I had to bring attention to farts pretty much went away by 7th grade.

I agree with Harp that minimizing the embarrassment is the best course, but I would bet that within a group of several or more people, nearly all of us would take some sort of action to protect our innocence, be it a facial expression (wince), a gesture (pinch nose with fingers or a finger point) or a comment (phew…it wasn’t me).

Not really. I find it difficult to comment while holding my breath and backing away from the aromatic aura of the “wind breaker”!!

I can’t help but laugh, and pinch my nose. If my husband is the offender, I slap him, and usually say, Gross!

It depends on the situation. if it was my grandma she’d make you laugh with her follow-up comments (she used to do the line Maggie Smith said in Murder By Death when she farts under the covers) “I can’t help it, I’m an old woman”. Other times it is simply gross and deserves an “ewwww”. And then, there are the times that one just has to break out laughing. It may be the sound. It may be the situation. Find your favorite here. I urge you to try the Oprah Wind Free. Try not to laugh. I dare you.

I have been known to say, “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to do that at all!” when somebody else has done it, as a way of misdirecting attention away from them.

I try to help out, whenever I can…

August 23, 2008, 1:15 PM EDT

No, THEY should be compelled to say “Excuse me”.

I would rather they pass gas in front of me than hold it in, resulting in a nasty explosion covering me with blood and entrails.

Thus, I don’t comment. Sometimes I will thank them and receive a weird look.

blood and entrails? How long are they holdin’ it?

I wonder why anyone would EAT “blood & entrails.”

August 23, 2008, 1:46 PM EDT

I am no doctor, but I think that most living humans already have blood and entrails inside of them. No consumption necessary.

You’re right: You’re no doctor.

Neither am I.

August 23, 2008, 1:56 PM EDT

JA, ever heard of HAGGIS?

Indeed. But it’s against the law to eat that, unless you’re Scottish and attending a Robert Burns Memorial Dinner, right?

August 23, 2008, 3:41 PM EDT

if only