Robert McMillan includes having to take off his shoes among his airline travel "annoyances." I agree it's annoying, but I gladly take mine off (and wish all security checkpoints required it) because I well remember the December 2001 incident that led to this understandable safety practice. It was "shoe bomber" Richard Reid attempting to use a flame to light the fuse in his sneaker. Alert passengers and crew members prevented him, and tragedy was averted.

However, despite this lesson, our Transportation Security Administration continues to insanely allow passengers to bring up to 80 matches (4 matchbooks) into the cabin of any plane they board. And it's not as if people need these matches to light cigarettes, since smoking has been banned for many years.

So this stupid, idiotic rule is more than just "annoying" to me. It is nuts, and I find it dangerous and scary.

Richard Siegelman

Plainview resident