gas

He was leaning to the left and burping. Not an obnoxious, I'm-trying-to-gross-you-out kind of burp, but instead a burp of the I'm-sorry-but-I-have-gas-and-it-sucks variety. The burping I understand; we had yummy Mexican at Los Nopales for dinner last night. But every time he would burp, he leaned to the left. And this puzzled me.

He saw my quizzical look and said, "I always lean to the left when I burp." And of course, there is a good scientific explanation for this. You see, our stomachs are on the left side of our abdominal cavities. And the esophagus comes down and enters the side of the stomach at a bit of an angle. By leaning to the left, one can align the body so that the esophageal junction is at the top of the stomach instead of the side and thus make it easier for the gas to be expelled.

Okay, it makes sense. But now I am concerned. You see, here I thought I had found myself a good left-leaning liberal. But maybe he's just been gassy all along.