"Items left unattended will be seized and may be destroyed"

The proverbial travel bug: I definitely have it. In the past year I have been on 17 different airplanes which may not seem like a lot but I don't travel on business (that would require actually having a job- more on that later) and I'm not what one would call "independently wealthy." Anyway I've amassed my share of airport stories but I'd like to share one from a recent trip home from my best friend's west coast wedding. I was waiting for my flight after saying a very hollywood chic-flick-esque, at-the-gate farewell to a fellow wedding party member with whom I got on particularly well (wink wink). I, being an aware/ slightly paranoid post 9/11 air passenger, noticed an unattended backpack in the empty seats next to me. Unattended but not empty! This backpack, much to my surprise, held an adorable, sleeping-while-dangling baby! Now of all places to leave one's baggage unattended, the gate at an American international airport seems like quite a peculiar choice. Especially when one's infant is part of the package. Just as I was thinking to myself,  "is this the 21st century version of a bassinet on the doorstep?" the mother appeared. Back from the bathroom maybe? the duty free?  Not harried or in a rush was she to retrieve her abandoned offspring, but calm as though she'd come back to get a forgotten, half-eaten sandwich... and here's the kicker- she was carrying a handbag!