What's the Poop?

Poop. Crap. Doody. Shit. It's brown, it's smelly, and it's gross. But guess what?  Everyone does it. Everyone. So why are so many people so weirded out talking about poop? I for one am not. And my family most certainly is not. We grew up in a very open household where very little was off-limits for conversation. It didn't hurt that my brother and I weren't blessed with the best genes. He has Crohn's disease and I have Ulcerative Colitis. Thanks a lot mom and dad for our "shitty" genes. Ah, a pun! Hilarious. I crack myself up.

 Because of our autoimmune diseases we have become very comfortable with talking about our bowels with whoever will listen. Whether we have diarrhea, are constipated, have blood in our poop, have terrible gas, or just plain need to go, we feel the need to share with each other or those around us.  We are the probably the reason the phrase "TMI" was invented. After a great poop, I have no shame walking into a room, patting my stomach, and stating to my friends that I am now five pounds thinner.  I also have no issue voicing to those around me that I have to poop when I need to go. (I do know my audience, so I do know when and who this is appropriate around. I do have some boundaries.) I am thankful that I have friends that are okay with the poop talk and are comfortable enough to join in the convo and share along with me. I am even luckier that I have some colleagues (who also happen to be my good friends) who are just as open. We can talk about poop at meetings, at lunch, and even sometimes play "Battleshits" after school. Okay, I was kidding about the last one, but we are very open with each other. Sometimes, pooping in the bathroom stall at work is the only time of day we get to catch up and gossip.  See, pooping brings people together! 

I hope reading this didn't gross you out or make you never want to have a conversation with me again with a fear that the talk will turn to poop. I can't promise it won't. It might turn to sex, guys, food, whatever. With me, its a mixed bag, but I can guarantee it won't be boring.