Dave Barry’s Blurred Groin and the TSA
Via NPR: Humorist Dave Barry And His TSA Pat-Down.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
Well, now to someone whose junk was recently touched: humorist Dave Barry.
MELISSA BLOCK, host:
Last week, he went through a TSA full-body scanner. What the screeners saw, they did not like.
And Dave Barry, you have discovered that you are suffering from a rare disorder. What exactly is that disorder?
Mr. DAVE BARRY (Humorist): They told me I have a blurred groin.
BLOCK: A blurred groin?
Mr. BARRY: Yeah. I was in that machine – like a phone-booth thing, where they make you hold your arms up. And then it sends a scan of your naked body to -they claim – a TSA person in another room. But it could be to Bangladesh to hacker – you don’t know where.
BLOCK: But word came back you have a blurred groin. Did you know what –
Mr. BARRY: Yeah. They were letting everyone else go. Everyone else had a nice, sharp groin, I guess. But when I went through, they pulled me aside and put me in this – kind of like little pen. And after like – I don’t know – three or four minutes of standing there, I asked one of them: Why am I here? And he said, you have a blurred groin. And I went, what? Because you hate to find this out at the airport.
BLOCK: Yeah, you would want to know.
Mr. BARRY: And I had just had a physical – I mean, literally, two weeks earlier -which was pretty thorough, if you know what I’m saying. So I’m standing there, you know, after another few minutes. And then another man came over and said: You have to come with me – to this little room. And he gave my boarding pass to another guy. And as we’re going to the room he said, your groin was blurred. And so…
BLOCK: You said, I know. I know.
(Soundbite of laughter)
BLOCK: So what happened?
Mr. BARRY: So right now, like – everybody in Miami knows I’ve got a blurred groin.
BLOCK: Well, what happened next?
Mr. BARRY: Well, they take you in this little room. And it’s an unpleasant little room. The man is putting on the blue gloves. He’s telling me how he’s going to touch me. And he makes a big point about when he’s going to be using the front of his hand, and when he’s going to be using the back of his hand.
And I’m thinking, I don’t really care. Like, it’s not like if I’m going to have a guy touching me, I’m going to look down and go, oh, it’s okay; it’s the back of his hand – you know what I mean?
