Recently, I’ve done alot of bragging about what a wonderful little traveler my toddler daughter is… well, now it’s confession time. There is a part of flying that she absolutely dreads—-removing her shoes at airport security.
I’m not exactly sure what causes her such distress (on our recent trip to Hawaii she screamed each time we had to deposit her shoes into the plastic bin and watch them travel through the X-ray machine). We don’t wear shoes in our home—maybe that’s it. Whatever the reason, she had an absolute fit in three different airports. I’m sure the TSA agents there are not looking forward to us returning anytime soon.
I share this anecdote with you because while I was dealing with a crazed (and shoeless) child last week, travelers at Orlando International Airport were dealing with their own shoe issues. The airport is one of the first in the nation to install a new scanning device meant to help reduce the need for fliers to remove their shoes at airport security. The problem: the revolutionary new machine called the ShoeScanner, which is supposed to allow travelers keep their shoes ON through airport security got an unexpected surprise — they had to take their shoes off anyway. According to news reports, about half of the travelers using the machine were forced to remove their footwear because the ShoeScanner detected metal in their shoes.
“It’s a waste of time,” one female traveler told reporters. She went on to say she walked through the machine four times only to be told to remove her high-heeled shoes. “What’s the point of me standing there if I still have to take my shoes off,” the woman lamented. Airport officials said shoes with metal in them cause the machine to go off. They added that about a third of the first day’s failures were related to people moving their feet while being scanned.
Not familiar with the ShoeScanner? The machine was intended to aid the fledgling Registered Traveler program, which promises fast trips through airport security for people who choose to shell out about $100 a year and pass a background check. A hundred bucks and you still have to take your shows off? I think I will wait until they work out the kinks before signing up. Think about how happy my toddler will be that she gets to keep her shoes on.
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