Fear and clothing

By Roger Fillion Denver Post Business Writer

March 27 - Fear pays.

Just ask the folks hawking foot massagers, cheese graters, frying pans, nutrition drinks, exercise machines and other products only tangentially related to post-apocalyptic survival at this weekend's Denver Y2K Readiness Expo at the National Western complex.

"I don't care how compliant you are if you aren't healthy,'' said salesman Doug Eggett as he dangled in the Bounce Back exercise device, a small swinglike contraption that he said allows you to both exercise and "lymph-icize.''

For $345 - a special expo price discounted from the standard $395 - plus shipping from Eggett's office in Ventura, Calif., the Bounce Back can be yours, regardless of the state of millennial madness.

And for $50 more, you can enlist as a certified Bounce Back sales rep.

The expo was conceived and organized by a Fort Collins exposition planner who dropped his boat- and home-show gig to bring Y2K information and products to the masses. In the mainstay, the expo does focus on the coming of 2000 and the possible problems, from power outages to food shortages, that some say could follow.

Lectures repeated throughout the weekend will address such timely topics as "Long-term seed storage,'' "Y2K for Christians'' and "The advantages of riding out Y2K in the South Pacific.''

Most vendors tend to offer goods that fit the growing Y2K market niche even better than the Bounce Back.

The list is almost endless: food dehydrators, composting toilets, solar ovens, bags of grain, canned food, dried food, vacuum sealing devices to let you preserve your own grub, how-to survival books, how-to computer-survival books, water drums, generators, propane heaters, medical kits and wind and solar energy collectors.

All could come in handy if computers around the world fail to recognize the date Jan. 1, 2000, and promptly shut down.

But even some vendors said they have noticed Y2K profiteers sneaking into the ranks of the traditional survivalist crowd.

"Last October at the Dallas show, I noticed a big change,'' said David Barker of Minnesota, who, with wife Nancy, has hawked Libertarian books and magazines at survivalist shows around the country for about three years. "All of a sudden, it's a totally different crowd.''

As for expo attendees, many said Y2K concerns have made them more aware of their overall vulnerability when it comes to water and power. Many said they were buying things that, even if they aren't needed come January, might prove useful after the next blizzard, flood or lightning storm.

Andy Lovato, a parishioner of the Praise Center, a Denver Pentecostal church, wanted to see how much it would cost for his church to take care of people who may be left hungry and out in the cold by the Y2K bug.

"We're trying to figure out what it's actually going to take to hold 300 people for three days or as long as three weeks,'' he said. "We're finding out that it's going to take an awful lot of money.''

Lovato said he thought the expo was a good way for people to learn how to be more independent. But he saw charlatans hungry for a quick buck, too.

"It's a good way to make a dollar through fear,'' he said.

The expo runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The National Western's address is 4655 Humbolt St.

-- Norm (2@641.com), March 28, 1999

Answers

Ah Norm, why are you using Y2K Pro's e-mail address? Could it be that Norm really is Y2K Pro? This thread is now on my favorites list, for future evidence. I think you've just been BUSTED! <:)))))=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), March 28, 1999.

Sysman, hasn't NORM been busted a few times already? Y2K Pro=NORM=MRON=About 99% of all troll postings under any name. At least Flint is not jumping in to defend every NORM post now.

By the way, the thread title was pretty clever. I'm going to click through to the link now to see if NORM was able to think that up on his own.

-- Puddintame (dit@dot.com), March 28, 1999.

Nope, I knew NORM2K Pro was too much of a MRON to use his coconut for anything other than a hat rack. The newspaper provided the thread title. MRON probably hasn't hear of Las Vegas either.

-- Puddintame (dit@dot.com), March 28, 1999.

Could fears about Y2k mean they STILL haven't fixed it yet?

-- Thompson (h@s.t), March 28, 1999.

Hi Puddintame. Yea, I got him before with that "jeepers" line. This looks a little more solid though. I guess his multiple-personality just got a little confused this time. Funny, Vinnie vanishes and Norm shows up. Looks like not as many trolls as there seems to be. Let this be a lesson for all the newbies out there. <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), March 28, 1999.

Mr. Sysman Best regards,

-- Norm (nwo@hotmail.com), March 28, 1999.

Well Norm, if this really is you, and if you are NOT posting under multiple names, then I still don't have a problem with the information that you post. Like I've said before, I'm looking for any and all news on this issue. I do have a big problem with people that post using another person's ID, and I've got a big problem with people that post "happy face" articles using multiple names to tip the sacles in their favor.

So, did you post this article Norm? Or did that idiot Y2K Pro post it using your name? <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), March 28, 1999.

Normality, Norm, is merely a question of statistics. I will freely admit that your thinking (if we can call it that) is closer to the center than is mine or many of ther other people who post, answer, or otherwise just lurk around this forum.

But you should also note that truth is not subject to majority vote it were, the earth would still be flat.

-- dave (wootendave@hotmail.com), March 28, 1999.

If it were...

-- dave (wootendave@hotmail.com), March 28, 1999.

Having attended quite a few expos on various topics over the years, I think I can safely say that the same group of types caravans to them all, not just Y2K expos. They simply put a slightly different spin on their huckstering. America's business is business, Norm.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), March 28, 1999.

Norm: If your going to play in the forest, at least cover your tracks.

-- silverspoon (silverspoon@~~.com), March 28, 1999.

I've really tried to understand what the point is of this, and other similar threads, posted by Norm and/or Y2k Pro regarding unscrupulous people profiting from other's fears. Is this the logic: Some sleazy people profit by selling snake oil to frightened cancer victims, therefore all people who make a living providing treatment for cancer are sleazy? Or, is it that all cancer treatments are illegitimate? Or, is it that cancer itself doesn't exist? Or, is it that cancer victims are frauds?

-- Wanda (lonevoice@mailexcite.com), March 29, 1999.