IloveParis,

I respect your opinion that taking off shoes is no big deal. But it's a big deal to me. I'm not elderly or obese, but I am indignant.

There is no value to anyone in my taking off my shoes. There is value in every individual's act of standing up to the agency that terrorizes us at the airport. We should all, individually, refuse to be cowed by their uniforms or their orders or their threats. We should push and push, every time we pass through a checkpoint, to retain as much of our dignity as we can.