IT'S GOING TO COST YOU
Macomber, Shawn
2 6 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R M A R C H 2 0 0 7 OTHEPASSERBYCAUGHTUNAWARES,thesceneinside asmallroomwithinthegargantuanBostonConvention Center must have resembled a scene from...
...she shouted...
...This, too, is the theme of the book Kiyosaki coauthored with Donald Trump, Why We Want You to be Rich, which claims our nation is "going backward, into the Agrarian Age, when there was no democracy and only two classes...
...Hey,ifyou'renotwritingthisdown,that'sokay," hesaid...
...We're going to invest it...
...He received an almost Beatles-on-Ed-Sullivan-esque response...
...You are all set," Johnson beamed...
...Tell your face you're enjoying yourself...
...Later, at the launch of The Apprentice, Trump pointed out a "very handsome" star whohiswifeinformedhimwasRobLowe.Lestweget thewrongidea,however,Trumpinsisted,"Idon'treallylikemen.Ilikewomen.Ofcourse,whenIdiethey'll say I was gay, you watch...
...People stood on chairs with homemade "You're Hired...
...Others gyrated on stage in black stretch pants...
...The crowd, acute amnesia attacking the portion of their brain where memories of their paint-bynumbers artistic career are stored, agreed this would indeed be a powerful box...
...Now shake your body out...
...Real estate guru Raymond Aaron had set off this bit of orgiastic mimicry during his Automatic Prosperity seminar by encouraging the audience to imagine money pouring into their lives...
...What if I gave you a box...
...Awomanraisedherhandandshoutedwithbingo parlor enthusiasm, "That's me...
...CHRIS JOHNSON'S LIKENESS, cast in cardboard, seemed omnipresent, offering a wad of cash with one hand, an "It's yours...
...Three hundred men and womensatswayingontightlypackedlinesoffolding chairs, eyes tightly clenched in trance-like ecstasy as theybeckonedanunseenparamourwithcirclingcomehitherhands...
...Slowly they were winnowed down...
...Reality is created by validation...
...Finally, the developer and reality television star took thestagewithadozendancingFUNgirls...
...The crowd went silent...
...The crowd began moaning loudly...
...Leaving aside the question of whether rich entrepreneurs actually speak to one another like idiot savants behind closed doors, according to Learning Annex President Bill Zanker, Trump is paid a million dollars per speech...
...If you're fun to say yesto,they'llsayyestoyoumoreoften...
...Thiswasn'tquitethesameasthe"ironclad"guarantee Raymond Aaron had promised a day previously, but ironically enough it was similar to an admonishment he delivered to a crowd not automagically entranced by his spiel...
...of course...
...You make you wealthy...
...WhenIturnedback,hewashoveringoverthe front row, hands on his hips, eyeing those of us still in our seats with something approaching disgust...
...Then as if he suddenly recalled his speech was supposedtohavesomeentrepreneurialaspect,ForeM A R C H 2 0 0 7 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R 2 7 manadded,"Ifyouwanttobetheheavyweightchampion of the world in business, if you want to be the heavyweight champion of the world in real estate, you've got to be willing to fight...
...finger pointing fromtheother...
...Me, too," said Donald...
...And what did he say to the big time Hollywood agent who had begged him not to do The Apprentice when he called to congratulate Trump on hitting numberone...
...Get the best people and don't trust them...
...Finally,perhapsdipping a toe in The Lady Doth Protest Too Much waters, he continued,"Butjustfortherecord,I'mnotgay...
...Robbins talked about the "physiology of negativity...
...Does all this seem a bit gauche to you...
...Declare yourself a corporation...
...No such luck...
...Sensing some skepticism, Aaron promised an "iron clad guarantee" accompanied his box, a large copy projected on a screen behind him...
...No offense to my fellow larval entrepreneurs, but, in my row at least, this wasn't exactly method acting...
...I'm trying to teach you how to get rich and you're being as resistant as you can...
...No,Sylverwasshowingus"paupers,"asheaffectionately addressed us, what could be ours if only we would allowhimtotinkerwiththesubconsciouswiringinour head...
...Now, what sound would you make if money were pouring into your life...
...Kiyosaki, greeted like a rockstarbytheLearningAnnexcrowd,is probably similarly compensated...
...EARLIERTHATEVENING,theLearningAnnexhelda dance contest with a $1,000 prize...
...CNN's Sarah Max described Cash Flow as "Monopoly meets Dungeons & Dragons," but it must have somethingelsegoingforittocost195realdollars.For amere$595,Kiyosakiwillthrowinthechildren'sversion of the game and a few assorted Rich Dad knickknacksthatwouldotherwisecost$904.60separately...
...Some speakers at the Boston Expo were clearly chosen less for their business acumen than the marquee value of their name...
...Morethanafewpickeduponthelanguageoftheir heroesand,sensingkindredspiritsafoot,experimented...
...Uhoh...
...Everybody Dance Now" blared...
...Whoopi Goldberg,thrownofftheairlikeadog.There'snothing nice about television business, it's very simple--you don'tgetratingsyougetcanceled.Ifyoucomeupwith a cure for cancer and it doesn't get ratings, they won't evenbroadcastit.That'showbadthesefrickersare...
...Actually, they don't suck...
...He peppered his talk with colloquialisms like "No s--t, Dick Tracy," entertaining stories about celebrities like Andre Agassi, and hilariously excessive interpretations of attitudes we must overcome...
...Despite having already paid $179 to attendaneventwiththetagline,"OneWeekendCanMakeYou a Millionaire," no one seemed particularly miffed that nearlyevery"seminar"wasanhour-longsalespitchfor someotherexpensiveproductorpriceyseminar...
...Pregnant pause...
...When it was all over Sylver worked the crowd...
...AFTER A QUICK BIT onhowhewasraisedpoorina converted chicken coop in Michigan sans phone or running water, Las Vegas hypnotist MarshallSylverfellintoamasturbatorywealthreverie...
...FOR TWO FULL DAYS, the more than 10,000 people crowding the Learning Annex Wealth Expo were told in countless seminars and workshops that, at its absolute core, becoming a millionaire was mostlyamatterofthinkinglikeamillionaire...andpayingahandsomeransomtobeguidedtothishigherconsciousness...
...Itdidn'ttakelongwanderingthroughthishyperenthusiastic milieu to feel like The Beverly Hillbillies' Jed Clampett without a Jane Hathaway to shoo off the wallet vultures...
...IF ONE WERE TO BELIEVE Rich Dad, Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki, however, being all set in America today is an aberration, not the norm...
...As you say, there are much easier ways to make money...
...Trump continued: "You see these guy's guys, like Cary Grant, Errol Flynn, when they die they're gay...
...Didn't you just call me a pauper...
...Noonebegan to pogo Tony Robbins style to rid themselves of any "negativephysiology"whenTrumpfurtherofferedthat even some of those in their midst who were cut out for business would become "weeping, ineffective, scared people"underpressure.Theyweren'tevenmillionaires yet--althoughifbulgingshoppingbagswereanyindication, most believed they were well on their way--and alreadyTrumpwaswarning,"I'veseensomanypeople gethurt.I'veseensomanypeoplegetscrewed.I'veseen fortunestakenawayfrompeoplelikeitwascandy...
...Nevertheless, when Aaron finally unveiled his Soyouwanttobeamillionaire?ThreedayswithAmerica'spersonal financegurusandlegionsoftheirdevotees.|ByShawnMacomber T IT'SGOINGTO COSTYOU "box"--aGoldenTickettoanupcomingthree-dayseminar,assortedCDs,andbooks--reducedfromtheusual $3,800tothelow,lowpriceof$697,thecrowdreacted...
...The last few contestants were asked to introducethemselves...
...Your goalswiththatsystemaregoingtoachievethemselves automagically...
...Somebody is batting zero again...
...I'M NOT LETTINGHIMMAKEMERICH!NOOOOOWAY...
...Would that be a powerful box for you to have...
...Why, "You're Fired...
...Perhaps this was why the biggest lines in the hall were at the el cheapo massage tables...
...Ten contestants were brought up thrashing around as if it were an audition for Dancing with the Nobodies...
...Well, I created it 23 years ago," Aaron said...
...signs, chanting the same...
...Ultimately, though, I was not moved...
...As the evening came to a close, Trump got about as near to resignation as one assumes he ever gets...
...Kim and I nodded in unison...
...An older gentleman explainedthathedidn'thave$1,500tospareoutrightbut wantedtogetstarted...
...Once in, however, these children of Hamelin were left at the mercy of a bunchoftwenty-something,clipboard-totinggeeksasking,"Alright,readytogetstarted?Whowantstoberich...
...Yourfriendisafteryourwife...
...He worked 60 hours a week at "a J-O-B" yet was nevertheless"dead,flatbroke"untilakindmanopenedhis eyestothepoweroffinancingone'sstart-upbusiness with government cash...
...A video advertisement for his $1,500 weekendseminar showed people eating fire and hundreds slumpedinchairs,hypnotized,apparentlybeing"fixed...
...Sylver diagnosed...
...WhatifIgaveyouaboxthatwassopowerful you could just declare what it is you wanted and it would come true, just like a paint-by-number box makes a kid a great artist...
...I heard Aaron proclaimbehindme,"Ifyoucan'taffordit,youbetter buyit...
...a LOT OF STUFF, BUT THEY DON'T HAVE ANY ENTHUSIASM...
...His tone suggested this was no compliment...
...CostaRicanresorthutsarewherethesmartmoneyisat...
...Shawn Macomberisa2006PhillipsFoundationJournalismfellow.S H A W NM A C O M B E R M A R C H 2 0 0 7 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R 3 1 TonyRobbins'sreputationprecedeshim in suchawaythatIgenuinelybelievedafter seeinghimspeakIwouldabsolutely walkoutofhistalkwithanarmfulof booksreadytoseizetheday...
...Because you're reacting like I'm telling you how many cavities you have...
...forced any Massachusetts cab connoisseur to take all other statements with a grain of salt...
...Kiyosaki appears in the promotional booklet with a giant cartoon mallet poised to crush the dastardly financial advisor Y. Lee Weasel on behalf of investor Timid T. Turtle and invokes 1960s educator Edgar Dale's Cone of Learning...
...She touched it and nodded affirmatively...
...Automagically' is a wordIhadtomakeuptoexpressthephenomenonyou willpersonallyexperienceifyougetthisbox...
...Look,I'mgoingtokickthebucket,"hesaid...
...Yet teaching is our passion...
...He was thrown off the air like a dog...
...Aaron, eyes suddenly wide,asked...
...Thisexplainsalot.TheAmericanpublicschoolsystem hasbeenwastingitsmoneyonbooks...
...You've heard, `Get the best people and trust them...
...Tell it to a psychiatrist...
...as well as Paul McCartney's lack of one...
...A female voice cried out "Ooh la la...
...I meet with terrible people," he said...
...To wit: "I sure hope that woman over there knows I'm attracted to her, comes over here, makes love to me, and then introduces herself...
...I stood in line for 20 minutes to buy my copy of Why We Want You to be Rich fromtheRichDadsuperbooth.Istherereallyaneasier waytomakemoneythanselling$200boardgames...
...Don't you just love it when someone says, `I'lltry'?Don'tyoujustwanttobitchslapthem...
...While listening to "monetary historian" Mike Maloney givehispresentationongold,aslight,middle-agedman offered me a breath mint and then immediately, awkwardly,askedformycontactinfo...
...ness...
...I'm just a happy, healthy, welladjusted multimillionaire...
...Have you forgotten I'm about to teach you how to be rich...
...Still, if,asKiyosakicontends,hiscardboardandplasticoracle has the power to prevent the fall of Western Civilization, it may seem greedy to charge such an obscene amount for it until one considers the following conversation between Donald Trump, Kiyosaki, andKiyosaki'swifeKim,transcribedinWhyWeWant YoutobeRich: "That'swhyIteach,writeandcreateboardgames," [Kiyosaki said...
...Peoplewhoarestillsittinghere...thisisamicrocosm of your life," he said...
...for the typical surliness of her profession...
...It's time for you to get in in a full way, not just dip your toe in the pool...
...The crowd roared its approval...
...a STAMPEDE...
...To this end, the Learning Annex employs speakers ranging from Larry King, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Henry Kissinger to Bishop Desmond Tutu, Barbara Bush, and P. Diddy...
...Sylverencouragedustouse"freakin'"asamiddle name while introducing ourselves to the person next to us...
...government," Johnson was telling the crowd attendinghisFreeMoneyseminarasItookmyseat...
...But when Sylver noticed some weren't taking the reprogramming seriously, he lashed out...
...Suddenly feeling like a chestthumping frat boy, I had to admit my awareness had indeedshifted.ThenSylvergotawomantoeatfireand tried to hit us up for the cash...
...Are you kidding...
...A few FUN girls worked the aisles picking semifinalists...
...Perhaps Aaron was hoping a stampede would occur automagically if he announced one near his invisible magic box...
...In the competition for worst life, I was clearly at least a semi-finalist in Raymond Aaron's eyes...
...The self-described Greatest Hypnotist of All Time and "leading authority in the field of subconscious reprogramming" beamed pictures on a half-dozen screens of his San Diego beach house and the Las Vegas mansion so big he recently discovered a bathroomhedidn'trealizeexisted.ApurpleHummerwith flames painted on the front and a video game console intherearappearednext,followedbya$350,000Rolls RoycePhantom,hisprivatejet,anda$120,000watch...
...Let's say you're a disabled female entrepreneur from a minority group who is a veteran and had an alcoholic father growing up," he said...
...Gold confetti fluttered down...
...signs were held aloft and given a vigorous shake.Mostofthelastthirdofthespeechwasdevotedto theimportanceofprenuptialagreements,hisown("If I didn't have a prenup with Ivana I'd still be in court," Trump said, doing a pitch perfect imitation of Ivana protesting, "I did not know what I was signing...
...Rob Lowe's] show lasted two weeks," Trump said...
...And I'm pregnant...
...When you and I do Learning Annex talks, we often travel for two days, just to deliver a talk...
...Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Mother Teresa have all reportedlycalleduponhimaswell.Whynotme...
...He pranced andbouncedlikeafreedstalliontoTheWho's"Teenage Wasteland...
...Sylver must be the bravest self-promoting hypnotist on his block...
...Wise up...
...he murmured...
...The Apprentice theme song thundered...
...It's sure not the money...
...The man next to me stood up and cheered, fist in the air...
...Idon'tshowyouthesethingstoimpressyouwith me," Sylver offered improbably, adding more probably, "It'sprettyclearI'malreadyplentyimpressedwithme...
...Who wouldn'tlovetoseeParkerandKissingerteamupfor "Sex and the Ho Chi Minh City...
...In glossy booklets rained down upon us by anarmyoflackeysmanningthemassiveRichDad booth, Kiyosaki warns the gap between rich and poor in America "represents not only a gross unequality [sic] but is dangerous to the stability of a democratic society...
...You are the average of the five people youhangoutwith.Andtheysuck...
...What did she everdo?SheneverwentonEdSullivan.Shemadehim miserableforthreeyearsandnowshewants$400million...
...George Foreman, for instance, told tales of Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, the conversion from boxer to itinerant Christian preacher that kept him out of the ring for ten years, the triumphant against-all-odds return in hisfortiestobecometheoldestmanevertobeheavyweight champion of the world, and, perhaps most revealing, why he named all five of his sons George: "Alihitsyouonthehead.Frazierhitsyouonthehead...
...I must have been in the minority, though, because when Robbins encouraged the crowd to chant "I'll Do It...
...There are far easier ways to makemoney.Iteachandcreateeducationalmaterialsoutofadeepconcern.Ibelieveourcountryis introubleandsoaremillionsofourpeople...
...Twelve thousand adoring wannabe multi-millionaire moguls did not abandon this enthusiasm when theirherodeclared"alotofpeoplearen'tcutout,geneticallyorotherwise,tobeentrepreneurs...
...To the layman, this might seem underwhelming...
...Trump assured the crowd his current prenup was"evenbetter"thantheonehehadwithIvana...
...One woman, a clear crowd favorite after her rendition of The Running Man, took the mic and shouted: "I'm Pam...
...So then why did Trump bring up Lowe's oddly persistentprettyboylooks?Why,toshowhowunlikelyhisriseto"majorfrickentelevisionstar"trulywas...
...like Russian room service attendants, they did so...
...If that felt good, give the people seated around youahighfive...
...Robbins took a step back...
...That's a lot of time and energy for a two hour talk...
...Well, not exactly...
...Theydidn'tdoitonpurpose.Theythoughtthey werehelpingyou.Theythoughttheyweremakingyoua betterpersonbytellingyounottoshowoff.Thetruthis youneedtoshowoff...
...Robbinsshouted.Ahalf-dozenpeople slappedandgrabbedmyhand...
...I meet with somerealscum.Andthesearepeoplewhodon'twantto beontelevision,althoughthey'dmakegreatcharacters...
...Fear not the farming life, however, friends...
...Your parents messed you up," Dr...
...If people are saying no to you a lot, it's because you're fun to say no to...
...Theyjusthavedifferentaspirationsthanyou...
...Pretend you're happy...
...A middle-aged man a few aisles awaymatchedherwithan"Uhhuh,uhhuh...Ohyeah...
...In fairness to pimps, according to the Urban Dictionary, a bitch slap "denote[s] disrespect for the personbeingbitchslappedastheyarenotworthyofa man sized punch...
...A ringing endorsement of Trump's business partners, if nothing else...
...TherovingWealthExposwhichtakeplaceinseveral cities each year are but a few of the 8,000 events the 25-year-old Learning Annex claims to put on yearly to help people "make more money, improve their relationships, empower their lives and support personal and spiritual growth...
...Imagine the collaborative possibilities...
...Also, Aaron's chiding, "You guys compete for worst life," suggested a lack of respect I worried might seep into his other dealings and his claim that "most Ph.D.s in Massachusetts today are driving cabs because they know a...
...God love ya," the host shot back, "and I hope the baby is O.K...
...Second worst is hearing words (lecture) and third is looking at pictures (movies, photographs and TV...
...Like most gurus, Johnson had a sob story...
...Investinoil,ingas,inindependentmedia,incruiseships...
...Black plastic inflated wands embossed withTRUMPingoldletterswereproudlybrandished...
...Putyourfistupandsay `YES!'" Robbins recounted a trip to a Moscow hotel where a room service attendant swapped in an energetic "I'll do it...
...The crowd cackled along with every barb, as if the idea of losing a fortune they had not yet even attained wassoludicrousastoeliminateeventheslightestpossibility that The Donald was speaking specifically to them.Thepersontomyleftorright?Maybe.Me?Never...
...YET NO ONE WAS GREETED withthesamefanfareas the final speaker of the weekend: The lights went down, screens throughout the massive convention hall lit up with the words TRUMP IS IN THE HOUSE...
...Hope, it seems, is not entirely dead in the Other America...
...Trump was approached with several reality show concepts before Survivor creator Mark Burnett pitched him The Apprentice.Theproblemwas,mostproducers wanted to just follow Trump around the office.Trumpinsistedthiswouldnotwork...
...It is passion that gets us on those planes to fly all day, spend a night,deliverashorttalk,andthenflybackhome...
...andtoaskfora$3millioncommission...
...Still,momentslaterhe added, "I like to think of myself as victorious...
...The applause was deafening...
...When he encouraged the crowd to think similarly they banged their TRUMP wands together and roared for all they were worth, in an endorsement of a screwthe-world-I'm-rich ethos that the positive visualization crowd never really had a chance against...
...Theywouldmakethebadpeopleontelevisionasplayed byactorslooklikethenicestpeopleyou'veeverseen...
...Kim, who teaches as well, added, "We all make more money, much easier money, in real estate and other investI T ' S G O I N G T O C O S T Y O U 2 8 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R M A R C H 2 0 0 7 ments...
...Evenablindsquirrel sometimes finds a nut...
...You're Hired...
...Kiyosakiismakingtheworldsafefordemocracyagain with an educational board game, Cash Flow...
...The bland class war rhetoric might feed a hero complexorhelpjustifytheoutrageousgougingforcartoonboardgames,butifKiyosakithinksanyoneisbuyinghimassomealtruisticsaint,he'sbeenspendingabit toomuchtimecanoodlingwithY.LeeWeasel...
...It'snotevenawatch,it'sasmallcondo,"Sylverjoked...
...Nonetheless, to prove his worth Sylver offered a few nuggets of free advice: "Those that are afraid to buy are always afraid to sell...
...Well,youknowwhat they say," he offered apologetically when I declined to provideit,"poorpeoplework,richpeoplenetwork...
...So why do I need to fork over $1,500 to you...
...Oh my God, I've never seen anything like it," Aaron said...
...Talk about below-the-poverty-line pricing...
...Why "Of course...
...He flashed that $81 million dollar-a-year smile...
...Robbins commanded, and 10,000humanpogosticksbouncedasone.Refreshed, Robbins asked us now to greet the people in our row as if we actually cared about them...
...Pamwon.Thehostaskedwhatshewoulddowith the money...
...This was a kind of bookendtosomethingSylversaidearlierinthedayafterhe asked those of us who wanted to lose weight, get rich, and have a better sex life to raise our hands and too few of us did...
...It's not for the money, although the money is good...
...How many names you gonna remember...
...and questionable tax strategies ("Protect your assets...
...TONY ROBBINS'S REPUTATION precedeshiminsuch a way that I genuinely believed after seeing him speak I would absolutely walk out of his talkwithanarmfulofbooksreadytoseizetheday.This wasthemansummonedtoCampDavidtobuckupBill Clinton after the 1994 election, after all...
...Ithought,`S--t,thisisgoingtohappen,'"Robbins enthused...
...2 6 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R M A R C H 2 0 0 7 OTHEPASSERBYCAUGHTUNAWARES,thesceneinside asmallroomwithinthegargantuanBostonConvention Center must have resembled a scene from one of those storefront mini-churches where congregants handle snakes and routinely speak in tongues...
...Trump's meager business advice ranged from banal exhortations to "do what you love" and "never, I T ' S G O I N G T O C O S T Y O U 3 0 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R M A R C H 2 0 0 7 everquit,"toconsiderablyspicierpromulgationssuch as, "If someone screws you, screw them back with a vengeance, if for no other reason than people are watching...
...Johnson pulled his beautiful young Asian wife up on stage like a curvy human exclamation point to his triumphal life story...
...That'sforidiots";and"Bealittleparanoid...Iseesome of you here with your friend and your wife...
...My kidsaregoingtofightovermyestate.They'regoingto sayI'manidiotwhateverIdo...
...The six-foot-seven Ubermensch delivered a funny, inhumanly energetic performance...
...It may not be pretty, but it's mine," the billionaire crowed...
...In the exhibit hall, attendees as diverse as America herself hauled overflowing bags from one mega-guru booth to another, proving dreams of wealth the great Americanunifier.Dozensofhuckstersatsmallerbooths tried to capitalize on this budding entrepreneurial enthusiasm (read: mania) with a host of investment opportunities.Hoardgoldandsilverinsteadofcash!No, forget gold and silver: Become a cappuccino machine wholesaler...
...Looking at the Cone," Kiyosaki writes, "you will see that reading is the worst way to learn...
...Thisexplains the FUN girls...
...While we wouldn't know the full extent of the largesse available to us until we sprung several hundred dollars for his educational packet, "There's no reason why in the next two to four weeks you can't receive a grant for ten to forty thousand dollars," he said.Don'tassumegovernmenthandoutsweresolely forlow-incomefamilies,Johnsonadvised.Weshould look to our own lives to find traits to capitalize on...
...Aaron asked...
...Pimps were never my behavioralmodel,growingupinanall-femalehouseholdasI did...
...Grant and Flynn aren't two names that immediately pop into one's mind alongside Trump's, but...
...It's a...
...He'd either really sold them on the idea or thousands were terrified of being individuallybitch-slapped.FewwoulddoubtRobbinshas the stamina for such a feat...
...Forgetit.Icouldn'tcareless...
...Youdon'thavetolistentome.Youdon'thave to take my advice...
...Come here, sweetheart," Donald Trump said to one of them...
...Yourlackofknowledgeislikehavinga giantpadlockonthisgiantmoneyvault,asIliketocall the U.S...
...Sylver asked...
...You cannot purchase materials separately," Sylver sniffed...
...It sounded like a medical diagnosis until he illustrated the condition by asking us to greet people in our row as if doing so was "a total waste of your damn time...
...Cappuccino...
...Fact of the matter is, if this is too much energy for you to put out on your own behalf then quite frankly your life is guaranteed to suck...
...I don't care if someonewasgayornot.Imean,IgrewupinNewYork...
...Icranedmyheadaroundtowatchadozenpeople power-walking to the registration table, credit cards at the ready...
...Is my hair real...
...Do you feel that intense shift in your awareS H A W NM A C O M B E R M A R C H 2 0 0 7 T H E A M E R I C A N S P E C T A T O R 2 9 Foremanadded,"Ifyouwanttobethe heavyweightchampionoftheworldin business,ifyouwanttobetheheavyweight championoftheworldinrealestate, you'vegottobewillingtofight...
...Sales are good, too...
...Even apartfrom recognizing the dubious legal worth of any contract containing a word like "automagically," I have seen Darby O'Gill and the Little People enough times toknowwhateveraleprechaunpromises,potso'gold aren't given up so easily...
...Beautiful young women in tight white tank tops emblazoned with the giant red word "FUN" used their considerable allure to herd attendees into seminars on creative real estate ("Make millions buying and selling realestatewithouteverbuyingandsellingrealestate...
Vol. 40 • March 2007 • No. 2
