Have Bikini will Travel Avoids TSA Pat-Down

Have Bikini, Will Travel

"I'm hoping by wearing a bikini they will see everything they need to see and we can avoid a pat-down"

By JONATHAN LLOYD and JOHN CADIZ KLEMACK

Thousands of passengers were expected Wednesday at LAX, but only one left little to the imagination.

"I'm wearing my bikini," Corinne Theile said as she unbuttoned her overcoat outside the terminal to reveal a black two-piece. "It's not that I'm concerned, it's that I feel like the TSA is making travelers feel uncomfortable, and I feel like we can have security measures that don't make people feel uncomfortable.

"Every time I go through security I always say, 'I don't even know why I got dressed this morning.' I end up taking off belts, jewelry and everything else off anyway," Theile said.

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"I don't want to do a body scan, and I'm hoping by wearing a bikini they will see everything they need to see and we can avoid a pat-down, as well," she said.

After arriving at her destination, Theile told NBCLA over the phone that the TSA agents got a laugh out of her outfit.

"The woman looked at me and said, 'Girl, you wearing a bikini. Come right through.' She had a big smile on her face," Theile said. "I think this might be the way I travel from here on out. So, we'll see."

A loosely organized campaign by people opposed to the scanners has been encouraging travelers to opt-out of walking through the body scanners Wednesday as a protest of technology some consider overly invasive. But opting out of the  scan means passengers will undergo time-consuming, thorough pat-downs by a Transportation Security Administration agent.

About 1.5 million people were expected to go through LAX during the Thanksgiving travel period that began last Friday and ends Sunday.

The body scan takes only about 10 seconds. Those who refuse the body  scan are given the option of undergoing an open-palm, up the groin and between-the-breasts pat-down instead.

The mayor seemed OK with it.

"There's been a lot of ado about nothing," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said after going through a scanner earlier this week.

Also known as Advanced Imaging Technology, the refrigerator-sized body  scanners hit passengers with low-level x-ray beams to generate an image of  their body to detect weapons that might be hidden under their clothing.  The image -- which resembles a chalk etching -- is then transmitted to a  walled-off location and immediately deleted after being examined by security  officers. 

NBC Los Angeles

First Published: Nov 24, 2010 6:49 AM PST

Copyright City News Service /http://www.nbclosangeles.com/traffic/transit/Traffic-LAX-holiday-travel-thanksgiving-110384004.html?dr