Heathrow and a Sense of Insecurity

On Saturday evening (11th July), I went to meet my wife off an inbound flight from Europe at Terminal Five, Heathrow. As her plane was delayed, I sat with a cup of coffee in the Arrivals section branch of Costa, reading a magazine. At about 19.25,I turned to find an unattended green suitcase behind me. After recovering from my surprise, I told a cleaner that this was not my bag. The cleaner mentioned it to the staff behind the counter, who said that it was "probably" the property of someone in the queue. No attempt was made to ask the people in the queue. More interest was shown by a taxi driver waiting for a fare from an inbound flight. I finished my coffee, and went to the barrier to see if my wife had arrived. I turned around to see the taxi driver shaking his head in disbelief. The bag had not been collected, and there was a fresh set of customers in the queue. It was now about 19.35, so the taxi driver and I spoke to a female BA flight attendant, who questioned the café staff about the bag. Incredibly, they gave her the same story - it "probably" belonged to someone in the customer queue. I pointed out that this was a completely new set of customers and the same unlikely explanation had been given to me 10 minutes before. The flight attendant promised to report the matter at once. At about 19.50, an embarrassed looking passenger appeared and took the bag away (he'd forgotten it). I did not see him, but the taxi driver sent the passenger on his way with a well-deserved flea in his ear. No-one from airport security came to investigate.
 What do the posters say? "If you find an unattended bag, report it at once"? Well, reported it was, but none of the staff I encountered seemed to take it seriously. I suppose it could be argued that this whole episode took "only" half an hour, but it was a long half hour. Besides which, it only takes a second for a bomb to explode. It could also be said that everything turned out all right in the end, but it could just as easily have turned out badly. At a time when the risk of a terrorist attack on the UK is rated as "severe", when British families are mourning the loss of loved ones murdered in Tunisia and on 7/7, when ISIS fanatics boast to the "Mail on Sunday" of Jihadi terrorists in the UK itching to launch attacks, there is no room for complacency.
With hindsight, I have to admit that I could have done more. I have since complained online to Heathrow authorities, and await their response. However, I realise that I should have made a lot more fuss about that unattended suitcase than I did. If it happens again, I know what to do. So do all of us - the next unattended bag you see might not be so harmless.