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Comment by finaliteration | Hacker News Reader

I don’t know why, but for me it’s the shoes. My laptop bag makes it fairly easy to take my laptop out and put it back in, but dealing with taking my shoes on and off really fucking bugs me. It’s totally irrational, I know.

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I think your feeling is pretty rational. It's pretty annoying for no benefit. I wish they also offered flights with lower security. I'm fine getting on a plane if everyone went through a metal detector and kept their shoes on.

I would be fine without any screening at all. It would be like getting on a train or bus and no one seems to have an issue with using those methods of transportation without any security checks.

> I'm fine getting on a plane if everyone went through a metal detector and kept their shoes on.

that's an interesting thought. May be if the price of a ticket could be made cheaper by cutting out these TSA bullshit, the market could correct this problem.

This already exists in the form of regional airlines.

I live in Harrison, AR. I can fly to Memphis or Dallas for like $40 each way if I book a couple of weeks out. There is no TSA in Harrison, and the airline operates from their own hangars, not the general terminal on the other end.

I usually travel with a handgun, which I of course declare in my checked bag. They hand me my bag back and I carry it to the plane with me, and in a couple of instances have even asked me to put it under my seat due to limited cargo space. I’ve been told multiple times that I shouldn’t even bother declaring it by airport staff but I’m not clear enough on the laws there to take that advice.

Most frequent flyers would pay more to avoid the TSA

This is basically TSA Pre and Clear.

Could you imagine how much they’d add to the safety video for shoes-on flights?

Probably a 9 minute video that hijacks your IFE about which button to press if you see a shoe bomber.

That won't fly. As we, I hope, already know now the security is not only for the people on the plane.

No, it's not irrational. It's because you are being made less secure. When traveling, one generally packs their stuff well and keeps it together to maintain control of it. The TSA makes you do the exact opposite - unpack it all and splay it out in many unmanageable bins so they can carry out their their charade. You're then plainly vulnerable to easy theft, never mind if something happened where you actually had to hoof it and you're just standing there like an idiot struggling to get to your shoes!

I would love to see a comparison of the probability of contracting a foot fungus or other contagious disease in a security line vs. being a victim in a terrorist attack.

Seeing as the TSA has never caught a terrorist (and has missed several) I’d bet a statistical case could be made that their security lines are more dangerous to the public than any terrorist attacks they may have prevented.

The real comparison is with the number of human lifetimes wasted getting to the scareport extra early and waiting in line. It is on the order of one thousand per year.

Shoes is an American thing btw. If you travel within the EU, you never have to take your shoes off.

Shoes cross the line to requiring the removal of clothing in my head. It's not exactly the same, of course, but they are much closer to clothing than luggage.

This is why I wear my toe shoes to the airport. While it might seem counterintuitive, I can take them on and off one handed.

I wear these[0] when I travel. I can take them off and put them on with no hands at all. I usually do belt and shoes at the same time, in fact.

[0] https://www.merrell.com/US/en/jungle-moc/17703M.html

I’d use my Keen sandals for a similar reason, but they’re actually very hard to get back into. This is useful when I use them fishing, but bad in an airport.

I was in Honolulu last summer and they let us keep our shoes on and instead had dogs being walked around sniffing our feet.

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