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.
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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.
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.
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"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.
"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."
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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."
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.
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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."
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.