Tags
airport, airport security, discombobulate, Florida, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, humor, Mitchell Airport, sunshine, Susie Lindau, travel
I’m not a fan of airport security. I don’t know many people who are.
We recently flew from Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to catch our connecting flight to Tampa, Florida.
I was in pre-vacation mode, ready to let my hair down in the sunshine when I spotted a sign hanging just past one of the checkpoints at Mitchell Airport. I actually stopped and did a double-take, then started laughing. 
Recombobulation Area?? What a hoot!
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “discombobulate” as “to upset or confuse.” I decided “recombobulate” meant “to clear up or reassemble.”
Seems I wasn’t the only one to notice this cool sign with the made-up word. In the July, 2008 edition of the Journal-Sentinel, the sign – and the reaction it caused – got its own article.
And travelers can identify, including Melissa Fullmore, who called airline travel “a stressful time.”
I agree! In Atlanta, I got barked at by a security guard for not staying with my carry-on during the screening process.
“Stay with your luggage, ma’am. Stay. With. Your. Luggage!”
Right after that, another guard pulled me aside and swabbed my hands. She didn’t even tell me why – just pulled me aside, told me to hold up my hands, and scratched some paper thingy over my palms and swiped it under a scanner. I tried to keep my cool through all this, but really, when they can’t even tell you why you’re being singled out, I started feeling all prickly inside and decided to ask.
Seems the scratchy paper thingy was “a precautionary measure to detect explosive residue, ma’am.”
The last explosive thing that happened to me was when I gave birth to our last child, almost 17 years ago. Sigh…
At that point, I really needed a Recombobulation Area, but large as it is (4,700 acres) Hartsfield-Jackson didn’t even have one single teensy corner set aside to get recombobulated.
It’s always fun to find new words, and I’d like to thank Susie Lindau over at Susie Lindau’s Wild Ride, who came up with some pretty cool new words for 2015.
Eventually, I got recombobulated on my own, and we made it to Florida in one piece.
St. Petersburg, Florida
dmswriter 
This is one of my favorite words, Deanne! I love to say it! Sounds like you are a bit DIS-combobulated with your airport experience. 🙂 Can’t say as I blame you. It’s not wonder they need a recombobulate area! Hope your vacation was a good one, though. Let’s think about February for perhaps a cup of cocoa or tea in Kohler, okay? Stay warm — think laundry therapy — it will be here before we know it (I hope!).
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Yes, I would have appreciated a relaxing Recombobulation Area, but I guess I got that in the form of sunshine and a warm beach! February sounds great for tea, too. And believe it or not, I did hang some laundry out today – light shirts that’ll smell wonderful tonight! (Once they thaw…) 😉
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Yes, sunshine and warm beach would be my kind of recombobulating, too. 😉 LOL on the thawed out shirts – would be fun to do sheets in this kind of weather too! Hmmm, might have to think about that. Will be in touch!
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I’m sure you are recombobulated by now! It is stressful enough to travel without being singled out. Hope you had a great trip!
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