OPINION
Advice ad by curious student gets no response
iVlKG UEDOLPH
Ilhink 1 may have been eating
a l«igc! when I saw the ad It
was small, stuck at the begin
ning of the Fmrraid's i lassified
section, under a new heading
“At Your Own Ktsk."
"Good advice — any subject:
$2 plus SASE.” it read
Moving neither a problem 1
needed advice on. nor St. but
wondering who would run an
ad like that, 1 decided to find
paper and pen and scrawl a fast
note to the advertiser
Something along the lines of
“Who are vou and why are you
doing this?”
Twenty-nine cents later, the
letter was in the mail, and I
returned to my bagel.
1 forgot about the letter until
last Monday, when, while I was
digging through a recycling bar
rel in search of an old newspa
per, John Poppin came up to the
Emerald office and introduced
himself.
This was that advice guy. 1
realized. The one who ran the
ad.
Poppin is a senior English
major at the University, and
planned at first to use his advice
services as a quick wav to make
some money.
Poppin told me he had heard
a story about someone who ran
an ad in the hack of a supermar
ket tabloid that read, “bast
chance to send in a dollar.” That
ad got 15.000 replies, Poppin
said. Mis intention in offering $2
advi( e was to "sell something,
bt legal and be good and help
someone out
As he thought alxiul it, money
became lt>ss of an issue, and he
found himself iftore interested
in dis< overmg what sort of peo
ple would respond and for what
kinds of problems they might
want advit e
Poppin desi rified himself as
someone who s "been around
the block a few times lie greys
up in San Frnncisi o. exposing
himself to the perils and
delights of living in a world
renowned city " attended pri
vate st hoois, and has interests
im ludmg competitive archery ,
i omputors and cars.
With his own exponent es and
the knoyvledge of friends. Pop
pin said he planned to put a fair
amount of effort into coming up
with good advice for people
who wrote him.
Good advice involved
research, he said, and it he
couldn’t come up with any good
advice for someone fie would
gladly return their money
Hut he said he believed he
could manage some sort of
advice on nearly any problem
from the trivial to the more seri
ous.
(Where to get the best-filled
croissants in town is a trivial
question — he says Pred Meyer
is the best and stay away from
the EMU apple fritters while
you're at it.)
His ad ran for eight days in
the Emerald. At the end of those
eight days, he was $20 poorer
and the recipient of only one
response. Mine
"In today's search for some
kind of guidant e, 1 thought some
person would just reply.” he
said, "if you're out at the end of
your rope, sometimes you go for
stuff like that. 1 would have
answered because it s i ra/y It’s
just nutty Good advice $~
What the hull 11 this ’ I'd prnba
hly reply, and I'd proiwiblv write
a serious question."
Poppin beleives people didn't
respond borauso they re so
wrapped up in tlunr own lives
they don’t bother to find
answers to questions anymore
Thev rely on the media, on
rumors, or a friend of a Irieiid
for information, he said
People rarely go out and find
answers." he said. May be peo
ple inked about writing in to me,
or maybe they thought serious
Iv of writing m. but they didn't
"People are not curious any
more because they think they
have too much to do. and yvhat
they're curious about isn't as
important as yvhat they're
doing." Poppin said l icit s 100
percent untrue People should
he curious, people should ask
about things Absolutely never
be afraid to ask
F.ssentially . he's right
Go find the answers to your
questions Go to the source,
don’t mess around, and ask
someone who knows and get an
ansyvcr That, I think, sums up
John Poppin and his advice
business His role in this
proc ess1’ He'll find the answer
for you if you don't think voti ve
got the time
But Poppin believes people
have the time and brains to go
answer their own questions
Usually the simplest way to fiml
things out is by a couple of
phone i alls Reach out and ask
someone
I like phone calls because it
avoids having to look silly in |mt
son You don't have to give your
name when you're < ailing some
one for information. You t an be
an anonymous voice asking
strange questions just bei ause
you happen to lie curious
MHHMt sm'
And ask anything
How do porcupines mate'
How i iiiiii' Klei lion Day was
\ov 0 if it's supposed to lie the
first 1'uosdav after tfn> first Mon
da\ in November' l an llamas
realI\ spit more than 40 feet?
What are those big red balls
strung on power lines lor '' When
people se\ thes want frankness
in a relationship, do they really
uoorrs
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want to know what you're think
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You'd be surprised at what
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NOV. 15-21
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