singularity's Journal: My trip to Louisville

Thurday:
10:00am: Receive phone call that my 1pm meeting has been cancelled.
10:07am: Receive second phone call that my 1pm meeting has been cancelled. Decide this should also mean that my 10:45am meeting has been cancelled and, as such, I turn off my alarm clock set for 10:15am.
10:59am: Receive phone call asking my presence at the 10:45am meeting.
11:01am: Arrive at 10:45am meeting.
11:17am: Leave 10:45am meeting.
12:00pm: Lunch, laundry, packing, and various other activities around my apartment.
3:37pm: Take my car in to the shop for repairs.
3:52pm: Leave shop knowing what bolt I have to remove to fix the hood finally.
3:57pm: Start working on removing the bolt in question.
5:03pm: Finally remove bolt in question only to find it does not fix the problem.
5:23pm: Finally get the front end of the Jeep put back together.
5:25pm: Curse about Jeep online, and then take shower, eat dinner, and pack some more.
7:00pm: Watch "Smallville".
8:00pm: Watch "Angel".
10:12pm: Leave IMSA for downtown Chicago.
11:03pm: Arrive Neo, a bar/club in downtown Chicago.

Friday:

3:03am: Leave Neo.
3:09am: Arrive Golden Nugget, a 24 hour pancake shop in downtown Chicago.
4:21am: Leave Golden Nugget.
4:39am: Arrive Adams and Wabash station, Chicago el stop.
4:49am: Leave Adams and Wabash station on orange line train to Midway.
5:14am: Arrive Midway airport.
6:35am: Depart Midway airport on Southwest flight to Louisville, KY.
8:31am: [Eastern Time] Arrive Louisville, KY
8:52am: Get into bed.
1:15pm: Awake.
1:27pm: Breakfast.
3:03pm: Shower.
3:47pm: Depart for haircut and wedding.
5:17pm: Arrive at wedding, Leavingsworth, IN.
7:14pm: Depart wedding reception.
8:02pm: Arrive for haircut.
8:51pm: Return to house.
10:00pm: Watch "E.R."
11:15pm: Go to sleep.
9:15am: Wake up.
9:17am: Shower.
9:41am: Breakfast.
10:40am: Depart for Standiford Field, Louisville, KY.
11:30am: Depart Louisville for Chicago.
11:30am [Central Time]: Arrive Chicago.
12:27pm: Return to IMSA.

So TSA [Travel Security Agency? Totally Scared Answer] in Louisville gave me a hard time again. I was getting ready to go through the security checkpoint when I was asked if I was goign to remove my shoes. I replied that I was not. As soon as I got through the metal detector, however, I was asked to walk over to the side to be screened. I never set off the alarm.

The TSA agent that was going to search me first had me sit down. He had me take off my shoes and then proceeded to put through through the conveyer built! He then had me stand and wanded me down as usual. This is the third time the TSA agents in Louisville have done this. The previous two times, however, they did not take off my shoes and put them through the X-Ray machine. Previously they just wanded the shoes.

After being searched, I approached the supervisor's table and asked if removing shoes was required. TSA's web site says that it is not required. The supervisor explained that while it was suggested, removing shoes was not required. I explained that every time I was in Louisville, I was pulled aside to be searched when I refused to remove my shoes. I explained this seemed to be a de facto policy of having all passengers remove their shoes. The supervisor seemed confused, since this did go against the policy she just mentioned. She then looked at my shoes and said that my shoes had to be searched since they met one of the requirements. I asked which requirement and she answered that since the soles were over an inch thick they had to be searched.

Actually, she did not say that. She said that shoe removal was always "suggested", but that shoes that had soles over an inch thick also always had to be searched. It seemed to agree with what happens in that airport - they suggest that I take my shoes off before going through the metal detector, but do not require it. As soon as I get through, though, they pull me aside to further search me.

She said that in order to save time it would be better if I removed shoes that had soles over an inch thick to be put through the conveyer belt so that they would not have to pull me aside "and take more time."

I said that might be the case each time, since I could not remember what shoes I was wearing the previous two incidents.

I did not ask her why they did not just require people with shoes over an inch thick to remove them prior to going through the metal detector. I wanted to go online and do further research. At the time I remembered the TSA website sayign that shoe removal was not required. I do not remember it saying anything about requirements including soles over an inch thick. The last time I was in Louisville's airport I remember hearing the security agent listing off the same "requirement" to another passenger.

As an addition, the security agents at both Midway airport and O'Hare airport have never made me take off the same pair of shoes, inch thick soles or not. Next time I will have a copy of the TSA "requirements" printed out on me.

[Note: I had planned on researching TSA's requirements before getting this up online, but I really wanted to get this online as soon as possible, so I will either edit this entry later or post another one after I research what TSA says.]