Your Problems Solved | 26 July 2003

Q. A colleague who sits next to me at work has a propensity to break wind violently whenever he feels inclined to do so. Far from being embarrassed by these eructations, as I imagine most people would be, he seems to see it as a social indelicacy on a par with coughing or slurping coffee; that is to say, not necessarily polite but certainly nothing to apologise for. Needless to say, I feel rather differently. How do I broach the subject without awkwardness? I have tried getting up and walking away every time the malodorous offences are committed, but he doesn’t take the hint. Whether this has anything to do with the fact that he is American, and unaware of British standards of office etiquette, I couldn’t say, but I am reaching the end of my tether.
Name and address withheld

A. You surprise me in reporting that this colleague is American.