"I have an incredibly flatulent wife, Doc, Choukri farts all the time," Mohammed Hersi lamented, as he sat on Dr. Nasra Ali's couch. The tall, burly, forty-something Somali man looked pensively at his psychiatrist, and wondered what was going on in her head. The doctor's lovely, at times stern face remained as inscrutable as ever.
"Mr. Hersi, women fart, just like men fart, it's a natural process of the human body, not much anyone can do about that," Dr. Ali replied, and the curvy, bronze-skinned and raven-haired psychiatrist leaned back in her chair, a pensive look on her lovely face. Try as she might, she was starting to resent Mohammed Hersi's comments, in spite of her usually clinical detachment.
Dr. Nasra Ali, born in the City of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and educated at Oxford University had been practicing psychiatry in the Canadian capital for over a decade, but some of the innate things her clients brought up occasionally made her frown. In a world full of social and political conflict, racial strife, and religiously motivated craziness, this Somali dude had his boxers in a bunch because his wife liked to fart. Ha!
"I'm not bothered by Choukri's farts by any means, in fact, anything to do with her big butt turns me on, but we haven't been intimate in quite some time," Mohammed continued, and Dr. Nasra Ali stroked her chin thoughtfully. Now we're getting somewhere, the psychiatrist thought, glad that her charmingly annoying patient was finally getting to the root of what was bothering him.
"Why do you think your wife Choukri has stopped being intimate with you? Dr. Nasra Ali asked softly, and she carefully watched Mohammed Hersi's dark, handsome face. This was definitely a sore subject with him, all the more reason for them to broach it in their sessions. Mohammed licked his lips, and sighed, a look of supreme discomfort on his face.
"I'm not as young as I once was, Doc, I am forty five, and not everything works like it did when I was twenty, if you know what I mean," Mohammed said, and he exhaled sharply. To Dr. Nasra Ali, Mohammed Hersi looked like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. When his eyes met hers, he looked like he was ready to crumble. In spite of herself, Dr. Nasra Ali was...moved.
"Mr. Hersi, aging is a natural part of life, and there are medicines which can help a man of your years in that department," Dr. Nasra Ali said carefully, aware that this was a sore subject with a lot of men. As readily available as Viagra had become in recent years, it was still a taboo thing for men to discuss out loud. Men of a certain age did not like to admit that their youth and vigor were gone, and that they needed help in certain areas. Just another fact of life...
"Doc, I'd rather get my boners the old-fashioned way, or not at all," Mohammed said vehemently, and Dr. Nasra Ali flinched, a bit surprised by his angry tone of voice. It must have been written on her face, for Mohammed apologized, and she nodded gently. Sighing, Mohammed went on about the problems he and his wife Choukri had been experiencing in the bedroom, and the fact that she stopped showing any interest in him in recent months.