The last day of a trip I came down with a serious case of the flu. Being sick at home is bad, being ill on the road is misery. Despite feeling achy, feverish and nauseous I managed to get to the airport and make my way to security. Unfortunately, I was not all there. I placed my laptop in its own tub as is now required by airport security but somehow I neglected to retrieve it on the other side. About halfway through the flight, when I reached down to retrieve my notebook, I realized my mistake. A panic swept over me as I imagined Homeland Security agents detonating my abandoned laptop along with all of the precious data it contained. When I returned home I quickly called the airport and despite some ribbing from the folks manning security there, I determined that my laptop was still miraculously in one piece and that they would FedEx it to me overnight, at my expense of course. Since this embarrassing incident, I've made sure to pay special attention to my belongings as I go through security.

-- Scott J., Redmond