VENICE, CA — When is a humiliating nipple-ring-removal-at-airport-security-checkpoint incident actually a good thing?

The short answer: Never…or when it doesn’t happen to you. The long answer (that appears short): When it inspires us to greatness.

That’s exactly what it did for South Venice hobbyist and inventor Larry Terry, who turned the plight of one mortified female flier into a personal crusade. As a result, and because of Terry’s ingenuity, neither nipple rings nor airport strip searches will ever be the same again.

It was at Lubbock International Airport that flier Mandi Hamlin’s boob baubles first triggered checkpoint metal detectors. After telling security guards it was probably her nip rings, Ms. Hamlin was forced to remove them behind a curtain as sniggering guards gathered outside. She had to borrow pliers to remove one of the pesky buggers.

Deeply moved by Ms. Hamlin’s titular humiliation, Terry went to work “McGyvering” the problem. In no time, he’d found a solution.

The result is the Larry Terry line of SFF (safe for flight) nipple rings. SFF nipple rings are handcrafted lucite that look to many like shower curtain rings. SFF rings are guaranteed not to trigger airport security systems for the same reason plastic explosives don’t — because no one can afford detectors.

Terry’s creative solutions don’t merely extend to nipple rings. His line of SFF creations runs the gamut of clamps, clips, plugs and Prince Albert thing-a-ma-bobs that today’s on-the-go travelers expect to wear through airport security without dropping trou.

Buoyed by the grateful response from the body mod community, Terry will soon begin work on a line of flesh-pull hooks and suspension gear.