# How Did You Happen Upon The Dope? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 27, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758 "2011-02-27T00:11:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/61 "2011-03-01T06:41:50Z")
Huh, I put linked by a search, but that isn’t the total truth. 11 years ago (Feb 29 2000) I was home off work with a perforated eardrum. (Same ailment, different decade for me right now) An on-line friend and I were chatting about starting a magazine and I had this vague idea of doing a smart ass column where people ask crazy questions and I answer them. It reminded me of…something…I remembered a column in the Montreal Mirror like that. A bit of searching and I found the Straight Dope On Line and joined up. So, really it was the column, but I hadn’t read the column in about 9 years when I searched for the SD online. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/62 "2011-03-01T07:32:28Z")
I found the books first - back in 1987 or 88. Then the focus of my existence became the weekly column. At the time I was working within a block of the Reader offices on Illinois Street so I eagerly pounced as soon as the column came out every week. Once Al Gore invented the Interwebs it was only a matter of time until I joined up. I ended up lurking for a while before joining up in 2005. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/63 "2011-03-01T12:51:52Z")
Read the books, started reading the column online, eventually saw that link for the message board. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/64 "2011-03-01T16:00:29Z")
Started reading the column in _Isthmus_, the alternative paper in Madison, WI, when I was in college at the University of Wisconsin in the mid-80s. Bought the first two books around that time, as well. When I moved to Chicago in '89, I started reading the column in the _Chicago Reader_. In the mid-90s, I got online on AOL, and discovered the SD community there (though I just used it to read the new columns; I didn’t participate in the discussion groups there). When AOL closed down their communities, I started reading the Dope on the web site; somewhere along the line, I started reading (and, eventually, participating in) the message boards, too. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/65 "2011-03-01T16:09:27Z")
There was an article about Cecil in the Reader’s Digest I saved the issue, remembered the name, and bought the first book years later. When my office got Internet, I found this place. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/66 "2011-03-01T17:04:03Z")
My friend Patrick gave me one of the books, which led me here. I wonder how Patrick feels about being indirectly responsible for my marriage? ---
**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:** [March 1, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/67 "2011-03-01T17:15:42Z")
I voted the as the result of a search option, but it is really a longer story than that. I started reading the column in the late 70s in The Baltimore City Paper. I bought a couple of the books over the years. When I moved to rural Ohio in 2000, I looked for the column online and found it. Threadspotting led me to lurking on the message board, which I joined in 2005. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/68 "2011-03-01T18:00:08Z")
Linked here by someone on Snopes, if I recall correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/69 "2011-03-01T20:28:22Z")
Took a wrong turn at Albuquerque. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/70 "2011-03-01T20:49:14Z")
I discovered the books while browsing in the library around 1986. My first (limited) access to the internet was with Prodigy around 93 or 94, where I discovered Usenet. I regularly read alt.folklore.urban and alt.fan.cecil-adams. At some point I saw [www.straightdope.com](http://www.straightdope.com) mentioned as a way to read the column (there were no papers in my area that carried it), so I started checking in once a week or so. I think the board had been up a few weeks when I first noticed the new link. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/71 "2011-03-01T21:00:41Z")
I don’t even remember what I was searching for, but one of the results was Blinkie’s post about locked in syndrome. I haven’t been able to stay away for more than a few days ever since. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/72 "2011-03-02T02:17:23Z")
IIRC (and I may not be) it was the Monty Haul problem which lead me here, as originally referenced in Marilyn Van Vos Savant’s column. Or perhaps the airplane takeoff on a treadmill problem. One of those. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/73 "2011-03-02T12:29:56Z")
Aside from some of the word games, there wasn’t anything else interesting on AOL. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/74 "2011-03-02T16:12:32Z")
I was on another message board during the dark period between 2001 and 2008. Someone there turned me on to this board. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/75 "2011-03-02T17:34:45Z")
Sorry Quasi, but we don’t use the poll function in ATMB except when people need to test out/figure out how to use it. I have closed your poll in this thread but the thread is still open for replies. FTR I was on my way to canceling my AOL membership when I saw on the Welcome screen “THE STRAIGHT DOPE NOW ON AOL!” I had read the book and loved it and so I couldn’t click on the link fast enough. And it changed my life. And I’m still on AOL. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/76 "2011-05-22T23:24:29Z")
I am right there with you, **TubaDiva**. It has changed my life as well - for the better. As a matter of fact, you might even say it has become a _part_ of my life, because if you look at my personality from when I first joined SDMB until now, you will notice a definite change for the better (I hope y’all see it that way, because I sure do). One might even conclude that I have finally accepted “adulthood”, though I still make the occasional mistake. 🙂 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/77 "2011-05-23T02:21:32Z")
Apparently, I voted, but did not reply… I stumbled upon the mass market paperback of the first book, when I was about…14, maybe? 1987 or so. I literally wore it out, I must’ve read it a hundred times. Not sure how I found the SDMB. Probably searching for more books. Joe ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758/78 "2011-05-23T02:42:52Z")
On another board there was a thread on good message board recommendations. Someone linked to this board, specifically to this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=333253&highlight=mystery+trip](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=333253&highlight=mystery+trip) I was hooked- the writing was so clever and fun and a joy to read. It was another thread that made me delurk. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-happen-upon-the-dope/572758.md?page=3)