A Just A Little Bit Orange Feature
By Clara Pettitt. Copyright © 11/26/2000. All Rights Reserved.

Sunless.com in Chicago — Page Eight

For example, during the eye protection segment of the course, the instructor discussed UVA and UVB rays, carefully distinguishing between the deeper penetrating UVA rays, which damage the retina, and the less penetrating UVB rays, which damage the cornea.

But when we discussed the layers of skin, the specific effects of the deeper penetrating UVA rays, now widely believed to be the major cause of mutations leading to skin cancer, were not even mentioned.

Hot Rumor: Less than thirty percent of tanning bed customers use eye protection. Look for the reverse racoon eyes; you don't see them, do you?

I avoided the tanning bed section of the Expo, although one that looked like a torture device from Total Recall caught my eye.

Loaded down with a massive amount of loot, we left the Expo for good.

But wait! I almost forgot to tell you which exhibitors had the best looking ladies, as judged by Dave:

With special recognition for this woman, Femme Athletic!

At 7 PM, we met up with Starr Hamson and Adele Alden of Fantasy Tan for dinner [for more information on Fantasy Tan, see Mike Gets A Fantasy Tan]. We had arranged to meet them in the lobby of the Hyatt, and when we got there we found them chatting with Dr. Tom and Darline Laughlin.

Don't you wish you had heard that conversation!

The traffic into Chicago was fierce, so we ate nearby at Carlucci, where we feasted on carpaccio, calamari, and ravioli stuffed with potato and leek. For dessert, I couldn't pass up the orange coconut gelato.

As I expected, Starr and Adele were sizing up Dave as sunless tanning material. Six foot three of perfect untanned skin — how could they resist? The man felt the pressure. Who knows what will happen tomorrow, when we meet Starr and Adele at their Marriott hotel at 4 PM for a Fantasy Tan Fest: free Fantasy Tans for visitors to the sunless.com messageboard.

At dinner, the conversation turned philosophical. Starr is unable to imagine why anyone would ever use a tanning bed, and the tingle factor products, which contain skin irritants as the active ingredient, dismayed her.