A Dinner-Table Mix-Up: David Sedaris Would Like to Clear Up the Prostate Exams Confusion
A surprising announcement at dinner
During a dinner conversation about doctors, Cristina said she was scheduled for a prostate exam on Tuesday. Sedaris recalled that he might have laughed at the statement two decades earlier, but this time he was impressed.
Some people at the table were strangers to Cristina. The men there groaned and sympathized, assuming they understood what she would face at the doctor’s office: an uncomfortable, invasive exam.
Sedaris follows the mistaken premise
Sedaris’s account then turns to a humorous reflection about men and their prostates. He imagines a world in which men might transition at 60 if losing a prostate meant becoming a woman, and jokes about the consequences for families, diaper sales and restroom lines at Eagles concerts. The passage includes a fragment of dialogue addressed to a man, but does not identify who he is or provide the exchange’s full context.
Cristina corrects the record
The next morning, Cristina emailed Sedaris to say she had made a mistake. Her Tuesday appointment was not for a prostate exam; it was a colonoscopy. The piece is identified as an excerpt from David Sedaris’s book “The Land and Its People: Essays.” It is listed as available in hardcover, large print trade paperback, eBook and audio formats.
Key points
- Cristina initially said she had a prostate exam scheduled for Tuesday.
- The men at dinner sympathized, believing she would undergo an uncomfortable, invasive procedure.
- Cristina emailed the next morning to clarify that her appointment was a colonoscopy.
- The passage is from David Sedaris’s “The Land and Its People: Essays.”