This past weekend we are at Tampa International Airport. I am picking up my wife, who has just flown in from a family function with her sisters and parents, uncle, etc. My kids (6 years old and 8 years old) stayed home with me and came along to pick up their mom.
We are standing in baggage claim, near the outside doors, waiting for the baggage belt to start. My wife notices an older woman she doesn't recognize walk up to my 6 year old, put her arm around her, and start walking/pulling her quickly toward the exit doors 10 feet away!
My wife reacts immediately. She yells something like -- "Hey! Stop! That is my child!" Shen then runs up behind her, pulls my daughter away with one hand, and starts to give this woman a full body check into the glass wall beside the door! As she is getting ready to slam this woman into the wall/ground, she realizes it is her mother!
We didn't even think her parents were coming down to baggage claim and her mother had recently changed her hair color.... It was a very reasonable mistake. I had a heads up only because I saw her father walk up to me right at the same time.
The interesting part of the story (other than questioning my mother-in-law's judgment) was my wife's reaction. She did not hesitate to alert people around that this was going down and jump right into a physical confrontation with a "stranger." I don't think the reaction would have been different if the "abductor" was 6' 2" and 220 pounds.
Also very encouraging to me was the reaction of bystanders. A lot of people turned to see what was going on. One very imposing-looking guy comming through the doors assessed the situation quickly and stopped to block the door so no one could go out. Another guy was half out of his seat to "pile on" to the would be abductor. I stood watching this unfold, knowing this was a mistake, but it all happend too fast. Seeing strangers immediately coming to my wife's aid though, was uplifting.
A story that none of us will soon forget...
