This happened to me once (or one particularly (ie first)) upsetting time. I was in my early 20s.

I am now approximately 15-20 years older and I've only recently learned to trust my farts again. So far it's been at least 3 months of ripping and giggling again without fear of shame. I still keep it to an at home activity because I really don't know if my butt will betray me again but if it does it will almost certainly be in public at the most humiliating possible time and place.

All of this is to say, no it probably isn't JUST a getting old thing. I would suggest it's most likely dietary and that your poops aren't efficient. Still, Dr Hexbear is not a real doctor and you should get some professional advice.

I have noticed from listening to Manly Men Talking On The Internet (YouTube and podcasts) that (and I swear I've only seen American dudes talk about this like it's a normal and common occurrence) that an INSANE number of adult American men in their 30s regularly shit their pants and joke about it together later like it's normal.

Could be that they're all alcoholic binge drinkers but I'm not sure I've really noticed a strong correlation between shart stories and drinking stories.

I'm thinking it's usually dietary. But maybe there's more going on here.