As if airports weren't stressful enough, you've then got the added pressure of being sent through a scanner and having your semi-naked body flashed up on a screen for everyone to see.
While we know airport scanners are an important part of keeping us safe before we board a plane, there are complaints that they've become more invasive in a post-9/11 world. Although most of us are fine with these new stringent security measures, and scanners are actually less exposing than before, a PSA has now given us something else to worry about...well, if you're a man.
The story involves a 26-year-old man who was left a little red-faced when his manhood managed to set off a scanner at an airport in the USA.
After apparently saying goodbye to his long-distance girlfriend, the man stepped through the body scanner with more than just a smile on his face.
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Posting on Reddit, the OP writes: "This is not a joke, Im trying to warn other dudes if they are ever in this situation.
This happened to me yesterday, Tuesday morning at the Reno-Tahoe security. I had flown to visit my girlfriend and when she dropped me off we were kissing making out you know in her car before I left.
"I had a SLIGHT chub still, dudes know what I mean by this. I was scared, it was going away but too slowly, of course the one time there is no line.
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"I put my hands up and did the scanner, I look at the screen, and THERE IS A HUGE RED CIRCLE around my private area. I got pat down once, this is common at airports, I have a subcutaneous defibrillator in my chest but he went to my legs."
A supervisor apparently came over and he had to be patted down again: "I said lowly 'I was just with my girl my bad man' and he said you're good to go.
"It was the most humiliating experience I have ever had in my life, I thank God I will never see those guys again (they were good dudes) and pray no cameras were recording me or anything."
The comments were full of second-hand embarrassment and camaraderie. One person said: "Your schlong is so majestic it set off the security scanners at the airport, I’d wear that with a badge of honor my friend."
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Another flexed: "My groin gets patted down every time even when it's completely flaccid. Just roll with it."
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A third concluded: "They'll never think about your boner again and definitely have seen this happen countless times. While it's certainly a conditioned response to have shame about your body, in my experience it's better to laugh than be mortified."
In a separate thread, there's a similar story of a man setting off a scanner with a concealed weapon, but it's not the kind you aren't allowed to take on a plane.
This frequent flier claims that he sets off the body scanner almost every time he goes through, adding: "A yellow box appears on the screen over my penis.
And then, of course, I have to get a very personal pat down in sensitive areas. Not only is it just uncomfortable to have someone touch me in personal areas every time I go to the airport, but it’s also very time consuming."
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Even though we're sure some men would be happy to know their appendages are setting off airport scanners, we'd like to remind you that size doesn't always matter.