Undie Sunday

By Cassie, Brisbane, Australia

When my best friend Ben asked me to write a guest blog about Undie Sunday, I immediately said ‘yes’. How do you say ‘no’ to someone with cancer?  

For followers of Ben’s blog, you will know that Undie Sunday (undies is an Australian term for underpants) is an event organised by Rotary Bowelscan to raise awareness for bowel cancer and Bowelscan testing.

I bought Bowelscan kits at the event and am keen to start smearing my poo on cardboard and posting it off to a lucky lab tech to analyse for hidden traces of blood. In my moments of hesitation about completing this test, two thoughts convinced me that it was a good idea:

1. I really can’t hide behind the old ‘it will never happen’ idea anymore
2. I am more than happy to let a stranger stick a cold metal pole up my vagina every 2 years to test for a cancer that is far less common

The event aimed to break the Guinness World Record for the largest number of people in their underwear in a public space, which is currently set at 547. We had to dance for 5 minutes in our underwear to “Shaking that Ass”. Other highlights were the ‘dancing granddads’, spotting Michael (the winner of the latest Beauty and the Geek) and watching Australia’s most accurate skydiver land in his underwear.

Unfortunately we we didn't hit the Guinness World Record. But we raised awareness and had fun.

Wearing underwear in public is a serious deal when it comes to world records. G-strings and lacy or see-through underwear were banned. Ben also advised me to steer clear of crotchless panties, even they though they weren’t officially prohibited. Interestingly, girls were required to wear a t-shirt but males were instructed to take theirs off.

Thanks to my friends for dropping their pants in public

The take home message from the day was that bowel cancer is a serious disease that is both preventable and curable and that early detection is important. I encourage everyone to buy a Bowelscan testing kit.

I am looking forward to dancing in my underwear with Ben’s cancer-free bot-bot by my side at next year's event.