Mail the used pair to Comrade Kip Hawley, along with some words of encouragement.

Agree! And i have to say, i'm not about to spend ANY thing extra on something that should be provided for me. That's like going to a hospital and having to bring your own surgical tools or something. Completely stupid.

Hear hear! ^

Setting anything down on the floor of a bathroom, gas station or elsewhere ... I ask you!

Actually, I quit carrying a "purse" because I hate the whole where-to-set-it-down to-do all day long ... (plus I tend to lose things easily ... )

I don't think the analogy holds.

Last four times I've been hospitalized overnight or for day surgery, slippers were not provided for me or even available: I was told to wear my socks or have someone bring mine from home.

Now if I had to bring my own swabbies for the explosives detector to the airport ...

What's stupid is walking on airport floors in bare or stockinged feet, then putting them back in one's shoes.

Life isn't fair. We often have to provide our own "protection" --- like the gardening gloves I keep in my car to wear when I pump my gas. I don't expect the gas station to provide gloves, but I want to protect my hands from germs and residue on the pump handle. So I bring my own gloves. Same thing at the airport.

And yes, when you go to the hospital you do have to provide your own slippers... Have a nice day!

Uhhhh... ok... next time i make a ridiculous analogy i'll enclose it in [joke] brackets. And you could always spray gas on your hands, that would kill the germs.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe the bins used at LAX are serviced by a contract. I think these are the bins with the advertisements printed inside of them. My understanding is that TSA is prohibited from cleaning or replacing these bins. The contractor is supposed to do that.

As for the cleanliness of the bins, I think it's an unrealistic expectation. At SAT, we take away bins that are cracked, soiled or stained. On slow nights, we wipe them down with alcohol (it's the closest thing to cleaning supplies we have), but that's about the best we can do.

As for the dirty floors, I grant that the floors are not clean (even though our airport maintenance cleans the floors twice daily). However, if there is one thing universally associated with airport security, it's the idea of having to remove one's shoes as part of the process. Even those who travel infrequently know that they have to remove their shoes. Why not pack an extra pair of socks for the specific purpose of temporarily wearing them while processing through security? (What I find ironic is that many people wear their shoes barefooted, and whatever germs one may pick up on the floor probably pale in comparison to what resides inside the shoes themselves!)

Demanding that all shoes come off is an American "airport security" pet project -- taking off shoes as part of the "airport security" process is anything but universally associated with airport security.

In any event, glad to hear that some people try to clean some bins sometimes.

Thankfully, there's the option of sticking your stuff inside a plastic (or washable) bag before putting it in the bins.

I'd be surprised if the amount of fecal matter that ends up in traveller's bodies in the US hasn't increased due to the shoe carnival. Taking off shoes and putting them back on and then eating prior to cleaning the hands is a recipe for consuming that. The nasty shoe carnival is another reminder to wash your hands properly with soap and warm water for approximately 20 seconds prior to eating -- just don't count on the FAs who serve you necessarily doing the same.

In your world, perhaps. I see people process through the checkpoint everyday and they either automatically take their shoes off or ask if they need to remove them. The point being, which you conveniently glossed over, is that many people still wear their shoes barefoot or don't think to pack an extra pair of socks specifically for the purpose of passing through security. I don't understand the concern over cleanliness of the floors or the bins when people don't take enough precautions on their own to keep their feet clean. In fact, Americans in general don't keep their feet clean.

As for the soundness of removing shoes, I agree. There has got to be a better way. The current policy ain't it. However, I'm afraid that the bureaucratic path of least resistance is to stick to the current policy of having all shoes removed than to return to the previous policy of letting officers use their judgment on which shoes ought to be removed and which shouldn't.

We live on the same planet, and yet outside of the US -- and yes the US is co-located on the same world as the places to which FTers really travel -- removing shoes is not demanded like it is in the US.

The American-style shoe carnival is not a universal part of airport security -- that is, most other countries in the real world don't demand that all passenger shoes come off in order to clear airport security.

As noted eariler (i.e., above):

The majority of air travellers outside of the US won't be subjected to the shoe carnival -- for the shoe removal requirement in the US is anything but a universal part of the airport security process.

Yeah, whatever. You missed the point. Let's leave it at that.

That's not it. You took issue with my mentioning, contrary to your claim, that the shoe carnival is not universally associated with airport security; the shoe carnival is associated with the dog and pony show (although not universally associated with such either) in America.

Do you wear socks? Or to put it conversely, would you ever consider not wearing socks the next time you fly?

Circumstance-based. I do have to deal with the dirty bins at US airports.

And that's my point. You've had enough experiences to know better. I'd argue that others have as well. If you want to get wrapped around the word "universal" then how about "commonly-accepted"?

I am still amazed that people travel sockless and then complain when they have to remove their shoes at the checkpoint. Then again, this is nothing compared to the loose toothbrushes I see whenever I happen to check a toiletry bag. And don't get me started on women's cosmetics bags; talk about germ-city; and they apply this stuff on their faces?

Lots of people have dirty habits. Walking barefoot on a floor, unsanitary as it may be, pales in comparison to these other issues.

That's my point.