I believe the problem is that some passengers think that by purchasing an airline ticket they are purchasing the right to do as they please. Little by little, in aviation customer service, your patience runs out. In my case, I limit myself to a few sarcastic comebacks, or simply enforcing my authority to remember the passenger that they are breaching safety or security rules. If my personal circumstances and psychological state were altered by important personal life concerns, like this guy seemed to have, I donīt know if I could react in another, more drastic way. The problem is, employers donīt recognise personal life. For most of them, you only exist while at work, and work is all you do as far as they're concerned. If I need time off for anything related to personal problems, it'll cost me money, for sure.
But donīt try to condone all behaviour by passengers, please. You wouldnīt loose sight of your suitcase on the street, or in a shopping centre, or at the hospital. That would be a very stupid thing to do, as there are pickpockets and thieves everywhere. But come to an airport, and as soon as they hear the announcement to not leave luggage unatended, many passengers feel the anavoidable impulse of leaving their cases on the floor and start wandering around talking on their mobile phones, as if it was to show off that they do as they please. If you remind them that they have to keep their luggage with them at all times, they ignore you or sometimes even abuse you. Once I had half terminal 2 at LHR evacuated for that reason, and the passenger made a complaint about me because he had told me he was only going to the shop, and why didnīt I trust him? Did he look like a terrorist? Fortunately, the police didnīt let him fly and took him away for questioning (apparently, for running away and leaving a 'suspicious package unnatended'). Of course he wasn't a terrorist (he would have been an extremely incompetent terrorist!), but security rules are there for all of us to comply with. This gentleman wouldnīt do the same thing anywhere else, but in an airport, of all places, where even 4 year old kids know that you don't have to leave your bags unnatended, this man decided to do it. He could have simply carried the wheelie bag with him to the shop when I repeatedly told him, citing the rules, but he decided to make clear that he was special, he was a passenger, and he could do whatever he wanted.
My company, though, kind of told me off slightly, as check-in had been interrupted and some flights were delayed. Something like some people have said about Slater's actions, "it was a bit over the top, calling security, wasn't it?" "You should have waited for a few minutes to see if he really came back from the shop", etc. This is what some, and I repeat, SOME, passengers take advantage of. The companies constant disregard for safety in the name of avoiding bad publicity or delaying a flight. And it has to stop.