# Canadian Teen Arrested for Lighting Shoe Aboard Plane **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 5, 2002, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-teen-arrested-for-lighting-shoe-aboard-plane/122354 "2002-08-05T00:29:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-teen-arrested-for-lighting-shoe-aboard-plane/122354/21 "2002-08-07T12:58:06Z")
Ann, if you are so inclined to wage war against Iraq, why don’t you enlist in the armed forces yourself? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-teen-arrested-for-lighting-shoe-aboard-plane/122354/22 "2002-08-07T14:54:07Z")
Why do they let lighters on planes? I mean if they are confiscating fingernail clippers, why would they let you bring a zippo? And shoes too? Why are thoses still OK? I wonder if the other passengers got to beat the boy for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-teen-arrested-for-lighting-shoe-aboard-plane/122354/23 "2002-08-07T16:21:29Z")
AH HA!!! I’ve figured out why Ann is such a…such a…such a drooling moron\*. She’s an _alien_!!! Who the fuck says ‘foot sneaker’ but an alien? Huh? I mean, really…_foot sneaker_. As opposed to…? As opposed to _tentacle_ sneaker, that’s what! \*I humbly apologize to drooling morons everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-teen-arrested-for-lighting-shoe-aboard-plane/122354/24 "2002-08-07T17:49:28Z")
Ann Coulter’s brain has got to be a truly terrifying place to be. A **Canadian** kid of **Iranian** descent takes a lighter to his shoe on an airplane, so we should attack **Iraq**. Oh, and it’s the Democrats’ fault. What the fucking fuck? I mean, I know she’s given to some bizarre leaps of (il)logic, but this one is truly awe-inspiring. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-teen-arrested-for-lighting-shoe-aboard-plane/122354/25 "2002-08-07T18:59:38Z")
The only purpose Coulter serves at this point, IMO, is to show what true stupidity means. “Stupidity is like Nuclear Power. It can used for good or for evil. And you don’t want to get any on you.” Scott Adams, _Dilbert_ ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-teen-arrested-for-lighting-shoe-aboard-plane/122354/26 "2002-08-08T07:32:40Z")
Anyone see the “bonus” episodes of Titus, broadcast on Monday evening? The main characters were flying home from Mom’s funeral, and you know those people can’t be on a three-hour flight without eventually causing mayhem. Titus was recalling his one good mom-memory: Thanksgiving dinner; Tommy was at odds with the FA, who insisted on calling the in-flight meal “chicken king” instead of “chicken **a la** king”; Dave was giving himself the full spa treatment in the bathroom; and Dad was jonesing for a cigarette. So the turning point became: Tommy on his knees, screeching, “A la, a la, a la king!”, Titus sobbing, “We’re united through turkey!”, Dave wearing a towel-turban, and Dad setting off the smoke alarm. Naturally, everyone was hauled off the plane for FBI interrogation. “What’s the point of that anecdote, Rilchiam?” “The point is, when people act up on an airliner, particularly a US Airways flight, it’s only funny if it’s TV. IRL, it’s blatant stupidity.” ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-teen-arrested-for-lighting-shoe-aboard-plane/122354/27 "2002-08-08T07:56:12Z")
Teenagers, especially guys (no offense to anyone reading this who happens to fit into that category) are wont to do outrageous things for the sheer sake of “seeing what will happen”. The fact that the kid’s dad was seated next to him might not have been a deterrent. Some teenagers can only be subjugated by a Big Guy With a Gun[sup]TM[/sup]. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-teen-arrested-for-lighting-shoe-aboard-plane/122354/28 "2002-08-08T12:47:28Z")
It was reported in the conventional news media that the little jerk was of Iranian descent. So Coulter didn’t make that one up. She is of course, a flaming moron for citing the shoe incident as a justification for war. Paul Begala should be grateful she’s around to deflect attention from _his_ sterling comments (noted in the transcript) such as “…if I was laying in a ditch holding off the bad guys, that one person I’d want by my side is big John Dingell.” I’m glad I don’t watch _Crossfire_. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-teen-arrested-for-lighting-shoe-aboard-plane/122354/29 "2002-08-09T00:05:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zebra \* > \*\*Why do they let lighters on planes? > > I mean if they are confiscating fingernail clippers, why would they let you bring a zippo?\*\* So that one can smoke in the washrooms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-teen-arrested-for-lighting-shoe-aboard-plane/122354.md?page=1)