We chat some more and eventually he starts talking to me about marriage. He's been dealing with some insurance fun lately and has developed this cynical sense of the world; that people make a lot of their decisions based around money. And at the end of the day, his wife is (practically) the only one who has his back. Expanding on that, he went on to tell me about how he farts in front of his wife, like he's able to be himself. He makes jokes, asks her to "pull his finger", etc. At first she thought it was gross and that he was disgusting (he was making fun of women about how they don't like to fart in public), and now she farts right in front of him, too.
I've witnessed this with my parents; my father is a jokester farter, and isn't ashamed of it. He does this bit where he rides a motorcycle and farts while he "revs the engine". Quite classy. I think every year he gets some sort of fart-related card from a family member or friend.
What's the point of this? I'm not sure. Maybe just the ideas that: a) marriage isn't easy and you have to accept stuff that you might not have thought you would have to accept, b) farting is a common bodily function and we should accept the joyous things our body can do, and c) we take ourselves too seriously - laughter is good for the soul.
This is the same patient who told me he was going to make me a "ghetto handbook", so that I am sure to know all of my slang (which I didn't think was lacking too much, but I guess I was wrong...).
keepitrealfartsawaygilligansisle