Strangely, I had no problem at EWR. Yes, they wanted my shoes off but I expected that. They had no objection to my wearing my hat.

On my way back, at MIA, they asked everyone to take off hats, belts, and suspenders. Knowing that none of these things had buzzed in TLV, MXP, or EWR, I wore them through the machine anyhow.

EWR really depends on the screener than the rules at the AP. At EWR shoes need not be removed unless they set off the machine or have really thick soles.

PBI depends on the gates you are flying out of, B gates which is CO/WN/US/NW/B6/IM everyone must remove their shoes no matter the type, while over at C gates, DL/UA/AA/FL sneakers are acceptable while other forms of footware must come off.

While LAX Term 6/7 aslong as their is no metal in your shoes it is fine and one may pass without removing their shoes.

It not the fact that the shoes have metal in them it the fact that the current walk-thru-metal-dectors are not sniffers to detect explosives. If we had those going thru the walkthru would be a whole different story. Right now the only means we have to detect explosive is to x-ray them or patdown passengers. Go for it Spiff, I know about the body thing. It would sure make the screener life alot easier and passengers lifes easier if we had the right equipment to do the job.

They make us take our sweaters off but you can keep a hat on? Can't you hide whatever they're looking for inside the hat as easy as under th sweater?

I've always said that I'm willing to be patient dealing with security if it makes sense and was effective. The rules TSA applies are inconsistent, make little sense and they are ineffective as an organization.

Nastiness at it's best today at DCA.

Went through the metal detector with shoes on - no beep. The agent stopped me, yelled at me, made me go back and told me that if I didn't remove my shoes I would be subject to a secondary. Didn't remove them - no beep again - made to go to the penalty box.

Okay, asked for private screening. Got lots of "rolled eyes" for that.

During the private, they wanded my shoes again. I told them that's fine, but since they didn't set off the detector twice before (as one was a witness to), you are wasting your time. Okay, they wanded meand my shoes, no beeps. Then I asked if they were going to do the bomb swipe on my shoes, since they did not beep. Not, not necessary was their reply.

... is going on here?

And the agents at DCA are just plain NASTY!!!

I'm glad the TSA is consistently inconsistent in encouraging/suggesting/demanding that passengers remove their shoes. If they didn't, just imagine how many shoe bombs would be detonated at 35,000 feet each day, but not just in aircraft. Busy shopping malls, football stadia, basketball arenas, skyscrapers, etc. Can't be too careful with the plethora of shoe bombs our country has experienced throughout history. In the last 3 years, our nation's air travel system has been inundated with shoe bombs.

Given the enormous risk (and large numbers) of shoe bombs, why does everyone protest the x-raying all shoes? :confused:

it's been mentioned to me before that checking the shoes doesn't just hinge upon if they have metal or not, thus beeping wouldn't be the end-all.

Yes. If you would have READ my post, they didn't do ANYTHING but check for metal. What else are they looking for? A corned beef sanwich? They did not do any other test to these shoes except WANDING them again in the private room. If they would have tested them for explosives, at least they would have been doing something DIFFERENT than what was done THREE times before.

When will you learn?

"Went through the metal detector with shoes on - no beep. The agent stopped me, yelled at me, made me go back and told me that if I didn't remove my shoes I would be subject to a secondary. Didn't remove them - no beep again - made to go to the penalty box."

i read your post stating you were stopped for not removing your shoes, and then they didn't get the test for explosives. i still don't see the point of commenting that your shoes are fine since they don't have metal. i assume they're going to check anyways, with or without the explosive test if they deemed it worthy of an additional check. the complaint being that they didn't do an additional test on your shoes?

What was the point of them doing this then? To show me who was boss?

For some, a head covering is a religious garment. I wouldn't dream of asking a nun to remove her veil, a woman to remove her burqua, or a Jewish male to remove his yarmulke.

My comments are going way off the topic, but I just wanted to point out that: 1. I am yet to see a nun wearing a veil, 2. A Moslem woman can remove her burqua if no men are present and 3. A Jewish male can take off his yarmulke as long as he is certain he will not pray with an uncovered head.

There is a ton of difference between a hat and a yarmulke.

The headpiece to a nun's habit usually consists of a combination of a veil and underveil and sometimes includes a crown band, a coif and a wimple.

True and true, but I still wouldn't ask.

You're right, there is a world of difference. But a head covering is still a head covering and political correctness comes into play here.