WHO NEEDS ADVICE
Hi there,
I am writing an essay about advice columns and the people who actually write in. Why do we have advice columns in the first place? Are people that dumb that they need someone to tell them what to do. I can’t really imagine. I make my own decisions and live my life the way I want to. I take responsibility for my own actions and I don’t blame anything on anyone else. What gives?
Thank You Kathy Berry
I’m not putting down your profession. I realized after reading some of these that you need someone to tell them “Get a Life, Get a Clue”!!!
Dear Kathy Berry,
Please forward your essay to me when it is complete. I know you will be proud of your effort. I will post it on my website so the world can enjoy your insights.
Why do we write essays in the first place?
Perhaps essayists want to share their wisdom with the less experienced or less fortunate. Perhaps they simply want to entertain readers with wit or charm. Maybe they are verbal exhibitionists? Maybe they are taking the first step in a literary career – testing the market.
Advice columns, like essays, spring from countless motivations – some genuinely humanitarian, some just puns-for-profit.
You ask, “Are people that dumb that they need someone to tell them what to do?”
Most people are not born with knowledge, experience or wisdom. We attend school to acquire the basics. We venture into the social and business worlds for experience. Sometimes age brings wisdom; sometimes just gray hair. Some realize the benefits of learning from the mistakes and successes of others – some don’t.
Speaking from a strictly personal point of view, I seek advice on a daily basis. I consult with my doctors on matters of well being. “I can’t really imagine,” self-medication nor the intergenerational evolvement of medical facilities, equipment, and practice. I understand my personal need for advice from doctors and other professionals. I am thankful for the teachers and mentors I have had in my life. I wish they came earlier and in greater numbers to help me along the way. I was one of those “dumb” ones, but I was just bright enough to know how “dumb” I was.
“I make my own decisions and live my life the way I want to.”
Me too! My hat is off to you for having no need of guidance. I needed and need all the advice available. Might not help, but can’t hurt.
“I take responsibility for my own actions and I don’t blame anything on anyone else.”
Ultimately, we all have to take responsibility for our own actions. However, I am delighted that there are policemen to remind others of their responsibilities.
“What gives?”
I can not speak for everyone or anyone else that gives advice. I can share my motivation.
I was born into difficult circumstances. Life was a struggle from day one. My family lacked education. They were good, decent, hard working people that never rose above their circumstances. I wanted more. I was not allowed to steal but I was allowed to work. I made lots of mistakes, but rarely more than once. I sort advice from any source - sometimes the streets, sometimes the books, sometimes the mentors that came later. I was at least smart enough to recognize opportunity and gutsy enough to take risks. Decades later I surpassed my goals but kept my values. So I share my life’s work with others without a profit motive. I currently do a radio show to test my theories about what works and what does not. I am losing my shirt at the moment but I hope to see revenues in the future. Should they come, I will use them to create opportunities for those that show ambition and integrity.
“I’m not putting down your profession. I realized after reading some of these that you need someone to tell them “Get a Life, Get a Clue”!!!”
Try not to jump to conclusions, help your essay maintain accuracy. “Advice” is not my profession. In spite of the fact that I worked hard to move from near poverty to relative comfort, destiny seemed to have that in mind. In short, I still have the “tools” that helped destiny along. Do I let them rot on the self or share them with those inclined to seek advice?
Kathy, ideas transcend formality, but some formality can help in essay writing. Read “Elements of Style” - Strunk and White. Great advice for almost a century – some need it, some don’t. I still look both ways when crossing the street - seems like good advice, cemeteries are silent on the issue.
I await your essay “with bated breath,”
Everybody’s Uncle
