I wouldn’t have figured I’m such a minority here.
I’ve read the Straight Dope column since the mid-80s. Back in the early 90’s my local weekly stopped carrying it, and no amount of begging could get them to carry it again. I had just about given up hope when a few years later another weekly started publication, and they carried the Dope! Ah … a blissful few years reading Cecil’s wisdom. Unfortunately this other weekly closed down back in … oh, around 1998. At that point in time I decided to see if there was a web site. And lo! There it was! I’ve been reading the web site ever since and occasionally reading the message board. Finally, just last year, I decided that I would actually chance making a few posts of my own …
Thats how I found this place too. I read a question on a site called “Ask the Experts” about the walking/running in the rain. I brought it up a luch one day and for the next 3 months my co-workers debated this question. Someone finally pointed out Cecil’s column as his closing argument. I read his column and then started looking at the site. I have been hooked ever since, though Cecil’s answer was not quite accurate. I still am a little too green to handle the great debate forum. I have been shot down every time I tried to post (both times).
My dear friend Calm Kiwi found about this place and couldn’t stop raving about it. Initially I read all the articles and finally gave in and joined the boards. Probably the best thing that ever happened to me online.
I have a friend who, whenever we disagreed about anything factual, would send me a Straight Dope link to prove me wrong.
I was proved wrong so many times here (the last straw was the “water down the plughole in the southern hemisphere” question) that I thought I’d better hang around and get myself eddicated. 
Said friend is still just a lurker. (Yes you are, m’dear 
)
Funny, I was just thinking about posting this topic.
When I used to spend summers in Japan with my parents (both American), my book-wormy-ness took over on the long boring days (and hot, too) and I discovered two of Cecil’s books on my stepmother’s shelf. Read them cover to cover, then made sure I caught the Straight Dope columns in the local paper wherever I lived in the States. The column directed me to the website, and I was curious enough to check out Threadspotting. Funniest stuff I ever read…