def METHOD_NAME(
    col: str, strip_underscores: Union[str, bool] = None
) -> pd.DataFrame:
    """Strip underscores from a string."""
    underscore_options = [None, "left", "right", "both", "l", "r", True]
    if strip_underscores not in underscore_options:
        raise JanitorError(
            f"strip_underscores must be one of: {underscore_options}"
        )
    if strip_underscores in ["left", "l"]:
        col = col.lstrip("_")
    elif strip_underscores in ["right", "r"]:
        col = col.rstrip("_")
    elif strip_underscores == "both" or strip_underscores is True:
        col = col.strip("_")
    return col