# Flagpole Sitting

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flagpole-sitting/636102>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 28, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flagpole-sitting/636102 "2012-09-28T03:40:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flagpole-sitting/636102/1 "2012-09-28T03:40:10Z")

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I’ve heard stories about people who sat atop flagpoles. I believe one Catholic saint (St. Clothilde perhaps?) spent 30 years perched atop a flagpole. Okay so how would that Catholic saint eat and perform regular functions like bathroom breaks, showers, meals, etc.? And for that matter, what is so “saintly” about sitting on top of a flagpole? I’ve also heard stories about college students performing such feats, but again I ask, are these stories true and even if they are accurate, WHY? What is the actual purpose of sitting on top of a flagpole? Also it can’t be very comfortable. Do people just sit on that ball on top and contemplate life?

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**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flagpole-sitting/636102/2 "2012-09-28T04:12:08Z")

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Two different fads. The first was way back in the Byzantine Empire, starting in A.D. 423, among ascetic early Christians. ([the stylites](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylites)) The second was in the US in the 1920s as several people tried to achieve their 15 minutes of fame by breaking the record. ([pole-sitting](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole-sitting))

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flagpole-sitting/636102/3 "2012-09-28T04:13:01Z")

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> **[Pole sitting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole-sitting)**
>
> Pole sitting is the practice of sitting on top of a pole (such as a flagpole) for extended lengths of time, generally used as a test of endurance. A small platform is typically placed at the top of the pole for the sitter. Led by the stunt actor and former sailor Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly, flagpole sitting was a fad in the mid-to-late 1920s, but mostly died out after the start of the Great Depression. 
> Pole sitting is predated by the ancient ascetic discipline of stylitism, or column-sitting. St. ...