Mysterious Holes

I can't quite understand what the purpose of those little holes embedded in most boxers/briefs is. Surely, it's theoretically so that you can stick out your penis for pissing, fucking, masturbation, whatever. In theory however, they seem less than practical. Boxers aren't too bad, for the most part, but boxer-briefs and briefs are completely useless. Just getting your wang through that hole must require you to be a contortionist of some kind. I figure most people actually never use these holes and prefer to go with the good old "over the top" method. Of course, there's probably some old guy out there who absolutely swears by the "'ol pokey" method.