I have perfectly airport-friendly shoes and still must frequently battle with screeners over them. These are the nincompoops who wand bare feet, remember? And the same people who can't seem to discern a thickness of 1 inch. Really, the shoes themselves seem to have little to do with the TSA experience. It's more dependent on the individual screener. Normal, responsible people follow the rules, and allow people with non-profile shoes to go through unscathed. Power-trippers, who are far too numerous in the TSA screener ranks, want to exercise their power over travelers and force them to do silly things, just because they can. Does anybody doubt this?

Bruce