I remember hearing once that my dad saw somebody naked. I was maybe 13? We were on some church retreat thing with my family and several other folks from our church. Apparently my dad walked into this woman’s hotel room when she had just gotten out of the shower and was naked. I was intrigued. I remember it was surprising to me that my parents and this woman and the other adults were talking about it, like it was funny and no big deal. That didn’t quite mesh with the feeling or the concept I was developing up to that point about nudity.
I grew up in a Christian household, but it wasn’t one of those super-crazy-guilt-laden places, where the children are being yelled at all the time about how horrible and sinful and evil sex is and that you’ll burn in hell, blah, blah, blah. In some conversation that I, as an adult, had with my mom about church and faith and how we were raised, she said that they didn’t feel like they needed to preach at us all the time at home because they figured we were getting what we needed (to be good Christian kids) from church. However, at that point, to me, the idea that seeing somebody naked could be amusing or anything other than a serious breach of appropriate behavior was just out of the realm of possibility. I basically never saw anyone naked except myself in the shower and rarely my younger siblings when they were small babies, and generally that was when they were in the baby-tub. But I was old enough to be interested in sex, so the idea that you might see someone naked was exciting.
Anyway, I’ve occasionally heard other people mention walking in on someone naked, or being walked in on. I’ve never walked in on anyone naked. One Sunday afternoon early my freshman year in college, I had gone home for the weekend and was returning, with my parents (and my high school “sweetheart” I think), and we walked in on my roommate in bed with a girl. They weren’t actually having sex, nor were they naked. But it was strange, because I’d never met her before, and she was in my room, cuddling with my roommate.
Now, other people walking in on my while I was naked...it doesn’t feel like it’s happened. (Except “the neighbor”.) Then again, if I were walked in on, I probably wouldn’t care all that much. I guess that’s the idea that I have—the sort of oops!/oh-my-god!/whaah! sort of thing. Yeah, society has somehow convinced me that people are supposed to react that way in a walking-in-on-someone-naked situation. So even though I don’t feel that way, it’s in there, in my brain that way. Sometimes I really hate “society” and it’s “values”.
There was one place I lived which had a screened in porch, so sometimes we’d just leave that door open. And a girl I know and her guy friend dropped in while I was sort of lounging on the couch naked under a blanket. We chatted for a bit until I needed to get up for something, and they realized I was naked. That type of thing has happened a few other times in other places as well. There’s always that issue of thinking, well, I need to get up, and they’re gonna see me naked; I don’t care, but they might...
Where I live now, there’ve been a couple of people I was expecting, but who showed up early, when I was still naked or just then getting dressed. I’m not sure exactly what they saw. But like I said, it really doesn’t bother me. I’m a little curious what they actually saw or were aware of, and went through their minds.
So I guess if any readers out there have “walked in” on me, feel free to share. If it doesn’t make you uncomfortable.
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