Man says he farted in stairwell at work, ‘those steamy ones that really stink.’ Then thd Senior Vice President of HR starts climbing the stairs

Last year, one Reddit user discovered just how far a moment of flatulence could take him. Taking to r/jobs, Future_Bison_7533 shared a story that is equal parts hilarious and mortifying. As the user shared on Reddit, “I farted in the stairwell at work and it caused a entire ordeal.” 

Unfortunately for them, it all started rather innocuously. “”So anyway I drank my usual morning protein shake and it gave me some bubble guts.” The Redditor noted in their post, “Im going up the stairs to my office and I ripped a huge fart in the stairwell. It was one of those steamy ones that really stink.” Unfortunately, the timing could not have been worse. 

The Redditor then claimed, “Anyway I guess the SVP of HR came in not long after and got a big face full of my beef. She contacted the facilities team and they came to a conclusion that a rodent must have died in the walls or HVAC. This led to them getting big blower fans and calling our HVAC company to check out the ducts and Orkin to scout out the walls.”

They weren’t the only one with such a story

This story resonated with plenty of people online, sparking a wave of similar confessions or just laughter in the comments section. One commenter encouraged the original poster by writing, “I work in facilities. This is hilarious. Hope your stomach feels better.”

Another user shared, “One morning we thought the sewers backed up, or the exhaust fan caught on fire, in the men’s room because it smelt so bad it would literally sting your eyes. I had to put an out-of-order sign on it until a plumber could come. It was unusable for a whole day. Co-worker pulls me aside the next day saying it was him, he just had a really terrible s—.” 

This can happen even outside a standard workplace environment, as one nurse divulged. They wrote, “I’m a nurse and one time farted at the nurses station at shift change, the busiest time of day. It was a real eye waterer and gassed like 6 people. It prompted an investigation to figure out which patient had just shat themselves and I’ve never confessed after everybody was found to be clean.” 

Then again, according to one story, the original poster got away relatively scott free. One commenter shared, “Reminds me of a story I heard where a guy ripped one while working in a post office and it was so bad they called in the bomb squad because they thought there might have been a chemical weapon in a package.” In a different case, a woman trying to hide her fart on a plane ended up triggering an emergency landing because she used a match.

As embarrassing as these moments are, they are a normal part of life. According to the NY Post, researchers have been studying just how often people pass gas. A team in Australia tracked 6,400 people using an app called Chart Your Fart to get a better handle on gut health. 

The study reportedly found that on average, people fart about five times a day, though the median was slightly lower at 3.8. While men recorded slightly more farts than women, the data shows that this is a universal human experience. At least, we normal folk don’t have to worry about farts creating explosive conditions and can just let go. The crew of Artemis II, however, were told that farting too much would set the spacecraft on fire.

The NY Post highlighted that while passing gas is a necessary bodily function, it can be a sign of dietary sensitivities or other health issues. Factors like fiber intake, carbonated drinks, and even chewing gum can contribute to the frequency and intensity of these events. The study even noted that farts tend to peak in the evening, which makes sense given that people are eating their dinner and digesting throughout the day.