As a fan of Cecil’s,(my copy of Cecil’s first book, I dated 1984). When I became able to access the web, one of the first things I looked for was if Cecil had a site. I quickly became addected, & this is by far my favorite site…How about you?
Zymurgist
I didn’t get the column for years. Then some paper that did carry it (I always pick up the “alternative” paper when visiting a new town)had the address of this page.
I got to know Cecil Adams through AOL. I loved his columns.
And the rest is… well, here.
One beer is less than two beers.
Started reading Cecil in college back in the 80’s in the Santa Barbara Independent. It never occured to me (DUH!) to look for a Straight Dope website until a few months ago, and here I am.
Tim
“My hovercraft is full of eels.”
Just surfed in. I don’t remember where I was coming from.
While on a business trip I couldn’t sleep so I started watching tv, just flipping channels and I came across some weird bald guy answering questions. Strange stuff! Watched it every night I was there. About a year later I bought a computer subscribed to AOL. One night I couldn’t sleep so I fired up the computer went on line and typed in Keyword: RANDOM.
Here I am, is this karma or what?
The american people are very generous people and will forgive almost any weakness, with the possible exception of stupidity.—Will Rogers
I discovered the website a few months ago while searching for an article about eyes that change colors. I made coffee, and read every single article on the site. All of them. The good ones twice.
I was sent a link to a posting by a fellow Doper. I started reading and liked the community. After a couple of weeks I registered.
Abby
I watched the tv show when I was younger…one day I decided to see if The Straight Dope had a web site and I came across this, I don’t remember exactly when it was but it was quite awhile ago. I refused to even read the boards for a long time simply because I don’t care for all the aruing and nonsense that is ever-present at alot of boards but eventually I decided that this place was different.
I was reading a News of the Weird about that guy that’s been in the Paris airport forever, and it seemed so improbable that I searched for a secondary source. Cecil’s column on said guy came up. I read it, liked it, and went through the rest of the columns online. I wanted to comment on one of 'em (no longer recall which one or why), so I clicked on the link on the bottom of the page…
Read the boards, liked 'em, stayed. Eventually I signed up and started posting.
Someone somewhere on some messageboard I dont even remember posted a link to one of Cecils colums and Bang, here am I.:rolleyes:
About 3 years ago one of Cecil’s columns was in “Cruel Site of the Day”. Went to SD website and never left. Eventually drifted over to the message board too.
I walked into the office one day to see MrO giggling at the monitor… I asked him what he was reading, and it turned out to be the Straight Dope…
The rest is history (somewhat pathetic, but history nonetheless!)
One of my co-workers said hey this site is pretty neat and the columns are funny as heck. Anyways long story short I came read everyone of Cecil’s columns then found the message board and found a thread that dealt with some rather unruly groundhogs. After that I was hooked.
I’m a Terry Pratchett Fan and one day I read that Pterry uses The Straight Dope books for research.
Being German I had never heard of Straight Dope before but it sounded interesting and I went and bought a book.
Well, to find the website was just the next logical step… . 
I wish I had more time for the message board though… . I hardly ever post because I’m usually posting from work and my screen faces the door… . 
i found this website while looking for a straight razor to buy. it came up with a dear cecil article about why womens leg hairs cause a razor to go blunter than a mans beard. come to think of it i never did find that straight razor…
I moved from Washington DC to Cleveland OH. While Cleveland has several weekly alternative newspapers, I missed the DC City Paper.
I found that the City Paper had a website, so started enjoying it on the web. Then, linked to the SD columns online, and eventually, the SDMB.
Arden kept sending me links to funny threads until I caved and joined up myself.
Saw the TV show, many years latergot a working computer, remembered the TV show, and typed in http://www.straightdope.com on a whim. Stayed away from the boards for weeks, until there was a Threadspotting feature that required my knowledge.
Not a clue how I found this place. Read the columns for ages on the site, but didn’t actually read or join the message board until Very Vaguely Creepy was on Threadspotting.