Alright, I realize this is a ridiculous topic, not the most literary or philosophical discussion I have posed, but I've been babysitting all week and this is where my head is at:
Today I did something I have never done before: I farted REALLY loud in front of a stranger in public. I didn't exactly do it on purpose, I just wasn't thinking about it. I had been babysitting a 14 month old all day, and just one of the great thing about babies is that you can just burp and fart all you want around them, because no one cares!
Anyway, I was wearing my ipod head phones and listening to some classic Nora Jones hits, and I just let 'er rip without noticing, that is until the woman standing next to me almost jumped out of her skin, she was so shocked. It was in that moment that I realized what had just happened. I stared straight ahead, as did she, and we both stood as stiff as corpses until our subway car came, which seemed like an eternity. It's funny how we both felt the absolute necessity to pretend like nothing had happened, knowing perfectly well that the other knew perfectly well what had just occurred. Why is that? I mean, I will always find farts hilarious, and if I had looked at the woman's face, I probably would have started laughing hysterically, but no, we were not allowed to laugh in this circumstance, we had to stare straight ahead.
I can recall several hilarious farting circumstances in the last few years of my life. Being an actor, there is a lot of movement and voice work that challenges the ability to keep in gas, and sometimes it slips out. One of the most hilarious moments I have ever witnessed was with an instructor in a workshop I was taking. He was doing a leg stretch, and right in the middle of it, a little teeny fart popped out, and shocked him, so he said "ooops!" and continued on with the class. I, however, could not continue on. No matter what I did, I could not stop replaying it in my head, and one of my classmates was uncontrollably giggling across the room, so whenever I caught her eye I lost it, and I continued to giggle until I had to excuse myself from the room. I also had a one on one session with a voice teacher I was taking some classes with, and in the middle of doing a very low-breath squat, a big fart came right out. Again, I pretended that it did not happen, but based on her face, I could tell that of course she noticed! She was probably trying desperately not to laugh, for all I know.
So my question is, why are farts so darn funny? Is it the element of surprise? You never know when they might suddenly appear? Is it the noise that they make? Is that noise funny just in itself, and the fact that we make that noise from our bodies makes it even funnier?
Whatever the case, today I didn't find my fart funny. Today, I was terrified that this stranger was going to think I was some weird, gross person who farts really loud in public. Now, I did fart really loud in public, but why would she think I was weird and gross? In fact, in my experience, as I have mentioned, I find other people's farts to be hilarious, so in retrospect, maybe she was really just trying not to laugh, but if she did laugh, it could have been an amazing moment.
I declare, let us all embrace the humour of our farts! If they slip out, let us embrace their hilarity, and allow others to do the same!!
Love and kindness all.
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