Too polite to potty

My sisters and I are convinced that we grew up being too polite. We were taught to always think of others and how what we do affects others. I really think it is wonderful to have that awareness but it is not universal.

I was thinking of this as I sat in the stall of the ladies room at work waiting until the room was empty until I did my business. I am sure it is not healthy to hold it and it can be painful but I don't want to impose my bodily functions upon others. My son is very comfortable with me being in the bathroom while he does his thing. He has been known to ask his dad " Daddy, do me some privacy please". I want him to be comfortable with his bodily functions and to realize that it is natural and everyone does it.

As I was sitting, waiting for the person in the first stall with the jingley bracelets to finish up, I thought back to a guy I knew some years ago. He worked with me at the Nation's newspaper. He was very comfortable with himself. He would fart in public and not be one bit embarrassed. The rest of us would crack up and make snide remarks. Looking back, I realize that he was more enlightened than we were. He ended up dying by falling off a mountain in France. No really. He disappeared while on a walk with his wife. They didn't find him for the longest time. Coworkers joked that he was abducted by aliens and that he would walk in the office one day as if nothing ever happened. He was found about 2 years later by a man hiking on the mountain with his dog. We were sad and disappointed that he in fact was mortal.

Not that I really want to fart in public, but I would like to be comfortable with the fact that my body is normal and functions like everyone else's and that waste being eliminated is nothing to be ashamed of. I just want to go when I have to go! It may be too late for me but at least I can work on my son.