“Now, keeping one’s shoes on at the airport is good for everyone; this reporter has never seen a TSA agent clean the floor that thousands of bare feet walk across. “
Besides transmitting foot fungus and other viruses (MRSA), having people walk shoeless through the portal can also be a way to distribute, say, anthrax and other bio-weapons.
This has been a point of discussion for over a decade but nothing is done to address a) basic sanitation of the portal, and b) defending against a terrorist that put anthrax spores in his shoes, get those spores on his feet, takes off his shoes to walk shoeless through the portal thereby leaving a trail of spores behind so travelers pick up the spores. . .
The drill is meant to catch copycat crimes, it sounds like to me.