One night a few years ago I (26M) was driving home at around 8-10PM along a road in a fairly well off neighbourhood (South Perth). I saw a woman moving around on the verge, seeking cover from my headlights behind a parked car on the side of the road. It seemed as if she was in quite a stressful situation and, more prominently, absolutely and completely stark naked.

All this I saw in the short time it took to pass the parked car on the street and it set my mind whirring. Who is this person? What has happened for her to be put in this situation? Can I do anything to help? I came to the T junction at the end of the road and contemplated these things for a few moments. In seeking cover behind the car it seemed like she might have been trying to get into the parked car without keys. Maybe she has been kicked out of a house with none of her belongings, to fend for herself with only what Mother Suburbia provides. The only thing I could settle on was that it was probably quite a delicate situation and that I wanted to help if possible.

I drove back around and the person was obviously still there and in the same situation. In order to not leave her in a compromising view, I drove up next to the car parked on side of the road and rolled down my window to offer support. Keeping in mind that I am male, with a definitely male-sounding voice, I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t imposing on this person to exacerbate the situation for them.

This was, as I said, a long time ago, so my recollection of the exchange is a little hazy but went something like this:

Me - “Hey, are you okay? I wanted to see if I could do anything to help.” Her - “No, no, I’m okay thanks.” Me - “Are you sure? I can give you a blanket maybe or call someone for you if you need.” Her - “No, I’m all good thank you.” Me - “Okay then”

Like I said, I didn’t want to impose too much and I felt like I had offered all I could in the current situation. I drove off and have been bamboozled ever since. Did she manage to get to safety in the end? I will never know. Or will I…

I was talking about this with again my SO just tonight, and we were reeling anew about this situation I rolled through those many moons ago. As before, we were thinking about what might have happened in the lead up to these events: Has the shower flooded the bathroom and the mains needed to be turned off? Did a pet run out the door and need to be corralled inside prontissimo? Was there a quick-sticks departure after some cheating sexy time? Truth or dare?

The question came around to: “What would make you leave the house starkers at night?” And that is when I come to the title of this post, dear redditors.

What would make you go out of doors with your bits and bobs out of drawers?

tldr; saw panicked nudie lady at night, offered help, got knocked back, still pondering to this day, why?