This lady at the tire store sounded a bit paranoid, probably having read too
much tire literature over the years in her dingy little office. Well,
wouldn't you be?  I guess the point was that the 185's are made for thinner
 (steel) rims, and there's a problem when they stretch to fit the wider alloys.

A quick search of Tirerack shows they don't have any 205-14's that are
reinforced. Is this true of all manufacturers?

And why do I get the feeling this has been discussed many, many times before?

Ok, Ok, I'll search the archives...