I urge you to write to the Department of Transportation and the headquarters of AA. Make the complaint formal. These unfortunate events are too often. I too have been stuck helping 100s of passengers by myself. It is no fun and unehtical. Here are the links
www.aa.com/customerrelations
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/customer/index.shtm
please be sure you include the facts like flight number, date and record locater. Good luck to you.