# How did you find your Dope? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830 "2006-08-30T20:59:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/21 "2006-08-31T09:16:33Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] The same, though back in 2001. I’ve not spent any measurable amount of time on Snopes (or any other message board) since. [/QUOTE] Same same. Although I joined around 2001, I was lurking for a few years prior to that. ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/22 "2006-08-31T13:56:22Z")
Some posted a link to a SDMB thread (about a haunted chandelier IIRC) on another board, I read that thread, then started looking around the rest of the board and signed up. ---
**Author:** ![DangleYourModifier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@DangleYourModifier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DangleYourModifier)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/23 "2006-08-31T14:12:55Z")
I was searching for the meaning of “lorum ipsum” (I was just curious) and came across [this article](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010216.html) I lurked around for about a year before joining. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/24 "2006-08-31T14:13:16Z")
I was looking for some info about birds nests (forget what) and the SDMB cropped up. It was all downhill from there 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/25 "2006-08-31T14:43:04Z")
Back in the mid-late 80s I was at the University of Maryland, taking up space and wasting my parent’s money. I would pick up DC’s City Paper for local concert info and I found the Dope. I vaguely remembered someone showing me the first book in high school. Probably one of the sex questions. Later I looked it up on AOL so I could read the articles again. I think I may have posted a couple of times then but I didn’t get into the whole message board thing. After the Dope left AOL I forgot about it for a couple of years then found it again. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/26 "2006-08-31T14:47:50Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] Long ago, this message board was on AOL, and so was I. One day, a link to SDMB was on the Welcome screen of AOL. The hook was set, and I’ve been here ever since. [/QUOTE] This is pretty much my story too. I’ve been around since the AOL days. Let’s see, AskNott is user # 45 (I think?)… I don’t think I’m anywhere that low. Let’s see… ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/27 "2006-08-31T14:49:38Z")
[QUOTE=Enright3] This is pretty much my story too. I’ve been around since the AOL days. Let’s see, AskNott is user # 45 (I think?)… I don’t think I’m anywhere that low. Let’s see… [/QUOTE] Yeah, I didn’t think so… I’m #157. I wonder how many members there are that are still active that registered before me. There was a thread about that somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/28 "2006-08-31T17:05:51Z")
Hooked on the column in the Baltimore City Paper late 80’s. Forgot all about The Straight Dope til late 90’s when someone asked a question or stated a fact that I thought I had read in one of Cecil’s columns long ago. Did a web search and viola! Lurked for a long while before registering (might still be lurking but I wanted to search for something once…) ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/29 "2006-08-31T17:15:42Z")
I think my mom bought me one of the books. I don’t know how she ran across it though, probably in The Pacific Sun (how TSD is not carried in either of San Francisco’s weeklies is still a mystery to me). From there, I bought more books and found them on AOL & A&E, and follwed them here. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/30 "2006-08-31T17:44:45Z")
[QUOTE=Enright3] Yeah, I didn’t think so… I’m #157. I wonder how many members there are that are still active that registered before me. There was a thread about that somewhere. [/QUOTE] Pray tell how does one go about obtaining this information? I MUST know my user number! ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/31 "2006-08-31T17:52:59Z")
I first saw Cecil’s column in the Baltimore City Paper in the late 70s. I bought the books as they came out and read the column in print whenever I could. I moved to Ohio in 2000, and decided to look for a web presence for Cecil. I stcuk to reading the columns online until Threadspotting led me to SDMB. I lurked here from 2002 until June 2005, when I joined. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/32 "2006-08-31T18:21:10Z")
I picked up The Straight Dope at a Stars and Stripes bookstore in Seoul in 1987. I read it through, then read it again. Started buying the other books as soon as they came out. I searched for the Straight Dope online in the early 90’s, and started lurking after it left AOL. I finally joined in Sept of 01. Almost five years of membership, and less than 400 posts. Yeah, I’m a bit of a lurker. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/33 "2006-08-31T18:23:41Z")
I remember watching the TV show in the late 90s, then I looked it up one day. It’s been pretty much my only board, though I do post at a couple others. ---
**Author:** ![Frelling\_Tralk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecc23a/32.png) [@Frelling\_Tralk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frelling_Tralk)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/34 "2006-08-31T18:50:24Z")
Got an email from my dad with a particularly amusing column linked. Don’t remember what the subject was, but within a few weeks I’d read the whole archive. Lurked on the boards for years before finally registering, then lurked again post-registration and only recently started actively participating. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/35 "2006-08-31T20:01:30Z")
I read _[The Other Paper](http://www.theotherpaper.com/)_ throughout grad school at Ohio State. I eventually found the website and have been a steadfast lurker ever since. (Yes, I did not lose any posts to the Winter of our Missed Content.) Does Cecil have a centralized listing of papers that carry the Straight Dope? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/36 "2006-08-31T20:04:39Z")
[QUOTE=zoid] Pray tell how does one go about obtaining this information? I MUST know my user number! [/QUOTE] Go to your profile; it’s the number at the end of the URL- you’re 17408. -Troy McClure SF, User 239. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/37 "2006-08-31T20:05:44Z")
[QUOTE=Pleonast] Does Cecil have a centralized listing of papers that carry the Straight Dope? [/QUOTE] [Yes](http://straightdope.com/otheroutlets/newspapers.html). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/38 "2006-08-31T22:02:19Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] DC City Paper. I’ve been reading the column since the '80’s. [/QUOTE] Same here, a decade later. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/39 "2006-08-31T22:33:51Z")
[QUOTE=Enright3] Yeah, I didn’t think so… I’m #157. I wonder how many members there are that are still active that registered before me. There was a thread about that somewhere. [/QUOTE] #39 checking in. Opal is lower. Everybody with a March 1999 register date probably came over in the Great AOL Vowel Shift. Found it on AOL AFTER seeing the Straight Dope cable TV show. If someone could put a date on that (Fall time of year) I could get real specific. ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830/40 "2006-08-31T22:42:01Z")
If I don’t remember, should I post a reply? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-your-dope/370830.md?page=3)