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My wife would laugh at me if she weren’t so obviously annoyed with me.

When I have to take off my shoes in public, I look down at my socks that are wearing thin at the big toe (if it hasn’t alread poked a hole in that sock) as I pad around on a cold, dirty floor in a public area, and I mutter an oath directed at that shoe-bomb SOB.

Of course, anytime we go anywhere, on a plane, crossing a border, I always-ALWAYS-get pulled off to the side for special treatment.

My wife snickers knowingly when this happens...

Of course, anytime we go anywhere, on a plane, crossing a border, I always-ALWAYS-get pulled off to the side for special treatment.

That's been my fate as well. Also they want to separate you from your personal items as the conveyor belt and foot traffic are at different paces. I have sworn off flying again. I'll drive no matter how far.

I have neuropathy in both legs below my knees (nerve damage from numerous back injuries and surgeries) and don't feel my feet at all.

Me having to take off my shoes, get through "security" (what a laugh that is..) and then put my shoes back on hurriedly never goes well.

And every time I have to do it, I mutter "f***ing muslims" to myself.

My long term girlfriend of 5+ years now used to chuckle when it happened the first few times we flew together to go on vacation.

I think it was after the third time she stopped chuckling seeing how frustrated I was at all this nonsense WE AMERICANS go through because of those f***ing muslims on that day, and developed some empathy for what I have to go through to get through TSA (again, what a JOKE TSA is!)

Now she'll take whatever I'm struggling with away from me so I can focus on getting my shoes on and feel more secure while walking, and get to the gate. It's NOT easy walking on those slippery tile floors in airports in socks, when you cannot feel your feet. I dread it. I really do.

Oh, one more thing: about a month after 9-11 the Advertising Agency I was working for at the time here in Chicago sent a group of us out to Microsoft in Redmond to talk to their product development and OS Platform teams. We did that at least once a year.

I was sitting in an aisle seat, fairly close to the cockpit on a 737. Across from me was a large muscular guy and we were just chatting about where we were going when a group of muslims in their traditional garb got on the plane. It was about 8-10 of them I seem to recall.

The guy across the aisle from me looked me right in the eye and said "if any of them go for the cockpit, I'll take 'em out low and you take 'em out high." I nodded in agreement.

I cannot tell you how others on the plane felt about this large group of muslims on the plane so close after 9-11, I can only tell you that this other guy and I were pretty hell bent on protecting that cockpit - no matter what, that day.

I was in much better shape back then. Now I'm just turning into a fragile old man who's only hope at this point is his sniper skills. Hand to hand combat is off the table for me.