"I'd Rather Not Remove My Sneakers." These are the magic words, guaranteed to send you to secondary at a shoe-hell airport (I refuse to euphemize by calling them carnivals). But I have heard that theoretically you are not required to remove your nonmetallic shoes, so (if I have time) I have been known to utter the above Magic Words, thereby volunteering for the Full Treatment. The last time, I was retaliated against by having some stuff stolen from my carry-on.