Over the weekend, I spoke about my book and atheism at a monthly meeting for Chicago Mensa members — Mensa being the society for people with high IQs.
When I arrived, cameras followed me into the meeting room… that was a bit weird, I thought. Why were cameramen there?
I found out that 60 Minutes was doing a segment on the organization and they were filming local group meetings. Since I happened to be speaking that night, they put a mic on me and taped my talk and the Q&A afterwards.
After it was over, I pulled the mic off my shirt and wrapped it up as I spoke to other people who had questions. One of the cameraman came by and asked if he could have his mic back. I handed to him.
Then he stared at me for a second.
“Do you have the clip?”
“What clip?” I asked.
“The clip that the mic was resting inside…”
“Umm… no?”
He started patting me down. That was awkward. So I started patting myself down. No luck. We looked on the floor like the clip was a contact lens. Nothing. I went to the bathroom so I could untuck my shirt and see if it had fallen off somewhere on my person… nope.
Eventually, I had to tell the cameraman I didn’t have his clip.
He looked angry. Very angry.
When I began my talk, I thought it would be disappointing if the footage didn’t air at all. Now that it is over, I’m afraid that if/when this segment airs, they’re going to show some horribly embarrassing footage of me instead as an act of revenge. Damn.
…
Speaking of 60 Minutes, did you know commentator Andy Rooney is an atheist?
He spoke to Duncan Crary of the Humanist Network News and the piece aired on HNN’s latest podcast (MP3).
It’s a very brief segment that begins at the 1:35 mark.
