It was a hot, muggy August afternoon, and I had every reason to feel sorry for myself. A comedy of hassles began with the normal airport security gauntlet, followed by a random drug test, and a missed flight home due to a number of mechanical, weather problems.
During the usual pandemonium at the gate, I noticed a 5-year-old boy standing by his mother and watching me. He looked at me, then my bag, then back at me.
Cautiously, he left his mother’s side and slowly began to walk toward me, glancing among my bag, his mother, and me. As he came closer, I was both relieved and alarmed that it wasn’t me h