# Do you take off your clothes when you sit on the can? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 13, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880 "2002-06-13T16:54:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/1 "2002-06-13T16:54:48Z")
I fellow at work here was telling me about this earlier. He went out with a friend the other day. His buddy went to the can to do his “business” and a few minutes later my coworker went to the can too. When he went in, his freind was standing there with his shirt off. My coworker asked him “Why is your shirt off?” “I always take my shirt off when I take a shit” “Why” “I always take my shirt off when I take a shit” - but this time with a look like _don’t you?_ Is this some phenomena that I’ve never heard of before? Do you/know some else that does? Why? Are you scared of your shirt tails falling into the toilet or something? ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/2 "2002-06-13T17:22:22Z")
Yes, when I’m at home. I like to be as comfortable as possible when I’m going number 2. Hell, 75% I’m shitting nude. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/3 "2002-06-13T17:43:34Z")
Why? I’ve kinda figured out how to keep from getting shit on myself, so no. Admittedly, I do pull my pants down. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/4 "2002-06-13T17:49:35Z")
> [@](#): > > I like to be as comfortable as possible when I’m going number 2 Honest question, I am just trying to understand: How does taking off your shirt make you more comfortable? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/5 "2002-06-13T18:04:04Z")
Unless I’m de-clothed when I enter the bathroom, or plan on taking a shower afterwards, I keep all my clothes on (though I pull down my pants, though I think that’s kinda expected.) ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/6 "2002-06-13T18:08:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bouv \* > \*\*(though I pull down my pants, though I think that’s kinda expected.) \*\* :smack: ---
**Author:** ![tygre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@tygre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygre)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/7 "2002-06-13T18:49:20Z")
My son used to think he had to strip down to go #2, but he outgrew that by age 4. Me, unless I’m about to take a shower, nah. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/8 "2002-06-13T19:10:55Z")
I don’t take my clothes off (besides, of course, pulling down pants or moving skirts out of the way, whether that involves unhooking and pulling it down, or just - like with miniskirts, generally - pulling it up to get it out of the way). In fact, if I have to go to the bathroom before I take a shower, I use the toilet before I take my clothes off, because I feel weird sitting on the john while nude. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/9 "2002-06-13T19:58:42Z")
I’m with you **racinchikki**. I’m pretty comfortable being naked, but I feel strange going to the bathroom nude. Maybe it’s because I’m so accustomed to the process of getting necessary clothing out of the way, when I don’t have to do that my subconscious gets weirded out. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/10 "2002-06-13T20:10:04Z")
I don’t. Lately, though, hubby has. It’s really weird, too. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/11 "2002-06-13T20:10:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bernse \* > \*\* > > Honest question, I am just trying to understand: > > How does taking off your shirt make you more comfortable? \*\* Well, unlike **tygre** ’s I guess I just never outgrew that particular phase. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/12 "2002-06-13T20:20:08Z")
I also take off my shirt sometimes. I think it’s because I feel like my shirt is hanging down into the back, so I usually end up holding it up, which quickly becomes uncomfortable so taking my shirt off is just easier. Plus I have to hold myself down while sitting so my private parts don’t touch the front of the bowl. My shirt just gets in the way. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/13 "2002-06-13T21:15:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by c\_goat \* > Plus I have to hold myself down while sitting so my private parts don’t touch the front of the bowl. My shirt just gets in the way. [hijack]This reminds me of a story one of my friends told me. She used to work in customer service (phone support) for a bathroom fixtures company. She was being trained and was listening in (headphones only, no mic) on customer support calls with her trainer handling them. One of the calls was from a man who was relieved to have finally gotten a man (her trainer) on the line. He was too embarrassed to explain his issue to a woman, which was that he wanted to know which of their toilets had a larger seat-to-surface of water distance - as the one he’d bought let his scrotum hang into the water. :eek: [/hijack] I remain clothed; it’s too weird for me to even sit there naked before a shower. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/14 "2002-06-13T21:23:55Z")
Holy cow! I don’t think I could even get the giant sack of marbles I owned as a kid to do that. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/15 "2002-06-13T21:28:29Z")
At first I thought this was a strange question, but…_if_ I have bad intestinal cramps (irritable bowel, ya know), I’m often overheated as well, so I will take off my shirt so I feel less like I’m dying of heat stoke. Business as usual, though, shirt stays on. ---
**Author:** ![runforrestrun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@runforrestrun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runforrestrun)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/16 "2002-06-13T21:38:17Z")
Was there not a Seinfeld episode long ago that touched upon this same topic??? Something like George took off his shirt to go #2 and then walked out and forgot to put it back on? Might just be my imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Epistaxis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Epistaxis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epistaxis)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/17 "2002-06-14T07:28:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by runforrestrun \* > \*\*Was there not a Seinfeld episode long ago that touched upon this same topic??? Something like George took off his shirt to go #2 and then walked out and forgot to put it back on? Might just be my imagination. \*\* Yep, he did exactly that! It was in the middle of some kind of party too; there were a lot of people to observe him 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/18 "2002-06-14T08:15:00Z")
Maybe it was due to a shit-on-shirt-sleeve-while-wiping incident? It’s still weird though. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/19 "2002-06-14T10:17:33Z")
On a somewhat related note, I bet all the guys must have had at least one kid in Kindergarten or primary school that did this: walk up to a urinal, unbutton/unzip, _drop entire pants to ankle height_, piss, pull up pants, zip/button, walk away. I remember thinking, even as a 5 year old: “What’s wrong with you? Didn’t your momma tell you what a fly is for??” It’s even more disturbing when a grown man does it. Guy at a urinal next to me (in a club) did this once. In his defence, he was drunk as a skunk. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880/20 "2002-06-14T10:18:12Z")
Oh, and unless I’m nude already, the shirt stays on. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-off-your-clothes-when-you-sit-on-the-can/113880.md?page=2)