Newark: Not *totally* worthless

Reading this made my blood run cold:

Philippe Quint is giving a private 30-minute performance on Tuesday in the cab waiting area at Newark Liberty International Airport.

He left his violin, a 1723 Kiesewetter Stradivarius, in a taxi on the way back from the airport last month.

Gah!  What?!  He left a Stradivarius in a cab?  Good god.  I A) am not a professional musician and B) have a decent-but-sure-as-hell-not-a-Stradivarius violin, and I can't stand to take my eyes off it when I travel.  If I know I'm going to be flying with it I will try to get a seat towards the back of the plane, so I'm sure I'll be able to put it in an overhead compartment I can see when we land.  Once while walking through an airport, the shoulder strap on my case spontaneously broke - the clip on one end just stopped clipping, and I nearly dropped it, which caused me to freak out.  

Kudos to Mr. Kahlil for returning the instrument.  I'm willing to bet that he didn't know what exactly it was that he was carrying in has cab, but even still, the honesty is refreshing.  

How in the hell do you get so distracted that you leave your four million dollar Stradivarius in a cab?  Or anywhere?