Yardwork

I've wandered through Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport numerous times, but I never really paid much attention to the glass cases by the security checkpoint zone. There are about 3 or 4 of these cases strewn about the area where people line up to get their carry-on bags x-rayed and themselves metal-detected. Each case shows items that are not allowed on carry-on baggage.

A brief look shows guns, propane tanks and other explosives, a can of WD-40, knives, a lantern, and various other obvious things. Jeff Foxworthy, the comic, mentioned on one of his shows that he saw a chainsaw in a glass case. I assumed that he was just exaggerating for laughs. But not so.

In the box that I examined, a gasoline powered leaf blower sat humbly amongst various other dangerous items. Not some miniaturized version, but a full sized leaf blower that you can buy at Home Depot.

Really. I'm not sure what point Hartsfield is trying to make, but who packs a leaf blower? Better yet, how do you pack a leaf blower onto a carry-on bag? It's not the most easy thing to conceal, and if some guy tried to hijack a plane with a leaf blower, I would have to get over my giggle fits before I got scared enough to give him control of the plane. I mean, what's the worst he could do? Blow some dirt into my contact lens?