Originally Posted by Bart

My gut instinct tells me that, as with any bureaucracy, nobody wants to take the risk for making a decision on which shoes are acceptable only to have that exact same model of shoe used in a future incident to smuggle explosive components through a checkpoint. The way I see it, the upper management in TSA is paid to make these tough decisions, and they are taking the coward's way out by leaving the standard ambiguous for both you the customer and me the screener. The guys and gals paid to make these decisions make a hell of a lot more money than me, and they aren't earning it.