Advice Columns

[Shalamar]

I agree with dguzpy. If I'm very tired or really into my book, I'll respond pleasantly to "How are you?", but if the hairdresser persists in talking to me while I'm trying to read, it pisses me off. "How are you?" is one thing, "Blah blah, my boyfriend, blah blah" is another. I'm her client, not her buddy - I don't need to hear the details of her love life.

[kanding]

After the usual "howareyou,I'mgood, that's nice", I just close my eyes. I hope that's not rude. It's just that a) I really am not they chatty type and b) someone playing around with my hair is narcotic.

[ivy]

I miss Ann Landers. I used to read her column every day. I also miss Irma Kurtz, who used to write advice columns for "Cosmo" and "Glamour" magazines. What I liked about both of them was that they'd tell off someone who deserved it. I remember Irma once answered a letter from a woman who broke up her co-worker's marriage by writing a phony note to her husband that said something like, "Last night was so great! Next time, wear a black bra!" The letter-writer said she felt a little bad about what she'd done and Irma told her, "You deserve to feel worse than bad, you deserve to feel like a creeping, crawling, floor-sliming slug." Awesome.

[batmom]

I remember a letter to Irma that went something like this: "My boyfriend used my bank card and withdrew a lot of money without telling me and spent it stuff I don't know about. Can I trust him?" Irma basically said "No you can't, you big dummy" although more eloquently.

[Deleted]

Jul 17, 2008 0:44:05 GMT -4 @dguzpy said:

Can someon please explain Cary Tennis to me? I read him in Salon and he is incredibly useless. Whenever he actually bothers to write advice rather than intellectually masturbatory literary foofaw, it's almost always really bad. Is he meant to be taken seriously? Is he for real?

I only read his column sporadically ("intellectually masturbatory literary foofaw" is a great way to describe most of it) but he occasionally gives decent advice. It's usually when he can directly relate to the subject at hand, however ... and his answers are still mostly about himself.

[ivy]

Jul 18, 2008 12:26:05 GMT -4 batmom said:

I remember a letter to Irma that went something like this: "My boyfriend used my bank card and withdrew a lot of money without telling me and spent it stuff I don't know about. Can I trust him?" Irma basically said "No you can't, you big dummy" although more eloquently.

Hee. I'm having fun reminiscing about Irma Kurtz now. I loved it when someone wrote a letter that was like, "My boyfriend has a crush on my sister and told me he plans to sleep with her to see if they have sexual chemistry, so what should I do?" and Irma said "Get yourself a new boyfriend. And if your sister is willing to go along with his plan, get yourself a new sister." I Irma.

[Ripley]

I want to give Carolyn Hax a big smooch on the lips for this response.

[Deleted]

Aug 30, 2008 11:51:09 GMT -4 Ripley said:

I want to give Carolyn Hax a big smooch on the lips for this response.

I loved this:

"People reading your question who thought they wanted to be parents are now refilling their birth-control scripts."

[Peggy Lane]

I had never read Yahoo's Dear Margo before today, but I love her! She gives good, non-hysterical, non-judgmental advice. A mom wrote in worried because her teenager daughter and the daughter's girlfriends are physically affectionate and the mom was worried people would think she was OMG teh gay! And Margo very calmly told her this was a non problem. She also gave great advice to a women with a cross dressing husband.

She is Ann Landers's daughter.

[Deleted]

Is the sex advice page from The Onion gone? I used to have to brace myself before looking at it because the questions (and answers) were incredibly graphic. I'm not a prude, by any means, but it could sometimes be quite over the top. The guy who did the column seemed to have 2 "taboos" regarding sex: "Don't mess with kids" and "Don't play around with feces." Other than that, anything goes. But it recently dawned on me that I haven't seen it in awhile.