Monday, October 14, 2013

Practically Naked (Part 2)

In this post, I'm referring to the practicality of being naked.   Last weekend I pressure washed and bleached the patio, worked on the pool, and did some major yard work in the back yard.  Our fence offered adequate privacy, so I worked naked most of the two days it took me to do all that.

The practically of working that way was wonderful.  Those were dirty jobs that would normally have left me sweaty, wet, and dirty for long periods of time.  Instead, I could simply rinse myself off whenever I wanted to and air dried as I continued to work.  When I spilled something caustic on myself, which happened a few times, I realized it right away and could rinse it off, rather than have it soak into my clothes and have to go change after I finally noticed.

Any hot, wet, dirty or grimy job is more comfortably done naked as long as it's warm enough where you're working (rarely a problem here in Florida).

On vacation a couple of months ago, I talked my wife into spending a down day and staying overnight at a distant nudist club along the way.  I guy came into the clubhouse covered in grease from head to toe from working on a bus he was fixing.  My wife still thinks of clothing as protective in those circumstances, where I just see it as making things worse by getting soaked with whatever you're working with, then grinding it against you for the rest of the day.  

Practically Naked (Part 1)

Maybe if I allow myself to post shorter messages, I'll do it more often.  But I'll still write something longer than I'd post to G+ by itself.

Part 1 is one meaning of the phrase "practically naked".  Part 2 is another meaning.  Here, I mean being almost naked.  I find that to be very awkward.  It's that gray zone between being properly dressed, and just being yourself (i.e. naked).  Whether it's being shirtless where it's not accepted, or being seen in your underwear.  Either way, it makes other people uncomfortable and they don't accept it much more than if you were naked.  So why not be naked instead?

I don't know.  I suppose it feels awkward to me to be "inadequately dressed" because there is something I should have or could have done about it.  Naked, I'm just me and I don't worry about being anything other than what I am when I'm free of my clothes.

I personally also find it awkward to be examined or left in a doctor's office wearing only my underwear.  Or worse yet, a gown that's open in back.  They, I assume, think they're doing me a favor.  They're not.  I'd be a lot more at ease if I were naked.  Instead, I'm left feeling that they could be missing something that's covered up in the exam, or that they've rushed through too quickly because they don't want to make me feel uncomfortable when they "peek" at those areas most people are uncomfortable showing.

Either way, it annoys me that I'm still so residually conditioned that I should care when I'm dressed inappropriately, when I'd not when I'm not dressed at all.  Either way, it makes other people uncomfortable, and I don't mean to do that.