Nice
Very well written! I can say that since I work at DEN I am surprised by some of your observations and wording. I work the "bridge" cp and I can tell you that there are a lot of PAX that come over the pond with lighters and have no issue getting here! It's getting back when they loose them.
On the issue of shoes, it has always been a judgement call. We dont carry rulers to verify observations. You might get sent down if your shoes APPEAR to be over the profile, to the uncalibrated eyeball. As far as getting sent to additional screening in the main terminal goes. The lasy screener that sent you down appeared angry because she was embarrassed that she wasnt paying attention and let you in with what she though was too thick of shoe soles. The lead screener that wanded you didnt follow proper procedures and you should have gotten wanded and patted down. It is up to you if you want to make a complaint about it. IF you do, I hope that you got names and such. I have never heard screener say "Step to the side" as a way to get you to go to bag search or secondary screening. We have those plexi-glass boths in the middle of both WTMD. IF you went through lane 6 on the bridge you may have been told that because there is no booth on that lane. The remark that the lead made about the rules changing constantly is a bunch of garbage. The rules have never changed. I dont know why she said this. Last but not least, the part about showing ID isnt true at all airports. It is true at DEN because we have dedicate lane for SSSS screening. Once the contract ticket checker looks at your boarding pass and ID you are free to put it away. AT other airports there are integrated lanes and TSA will check your ID and boarding pass numerous times to ensure that you are not SSSS. One last word, the lighter rules are a nightmare. You have found an inherent flaw in the system and you have exploited it. TSA screeners know about the issue with lighters in pockets and there is very little that can be done about it. Best of luck on future flights.