Originally Posted by FlyAO2
You only get one shot to go through the machine; if you go through the machine and you beep, you cannot go through it again (gone are the days when you just keep walking through again and again).
Once you beep, your pulled aside and you can add another 10 minutes to your wait. Therefore, it is to your best interest to take shoes off, coat off, change out of pockets; everything you can do to assure that you do not beep when going through the machine.
The one shot rule is just not true -- though, I suppose some overly aggressive TSA agents may operate that way. Just last week, I inadvertently left my cell phone in my pocket and went through the metal detector. I must have had a "...?" look on my face, and immediately produced the cell phone from my pocket. All I had to do was put the phone in the round bowl and run myself through again.
LGA is the only place where I have traveled that requires ALL shoes to be removed, including tennis shoes. I told the TSA that I knew there was nothing in my sneakers to warrant their removal, and I would take my chances going through the metal detector. No sound, no lights, no nothing from the detector, but the guy still pulled me aside for additional inspection, which I suppose was to teach me the lesson to do as I am told.
Something tells me that I am just too stubborn. And, hopefully, someday we will all realize just how invasive this all is, and, worse, it does little to nothing to insure any safety.
Stevekoe