I'm sure there are many students out there who are seeking advice from classic outside sources such as Dear Abby and Dear Amy either daily or whenever they pick up The Chicago Tribune, or whatever other newspapers are delivered through the Readership programs on both campuses. Or maybe I'm just the only one.
If there are others out there, I propose that those of you who read the insipidly bland advice columns in national papers seek out one of your own.
"Dear Jimsie" is a salacious advice column written by a Notre Dame student, mainly for his friends and acquaintances on Facebook.
"Dear Jimsie" is primarily driven by Facebook and text messages, which began doling out advice in early September in response to a text message prank making fun of his nickname. After that text message, Jimsie became so much more than a nickname, it became an advice column for the history books, much like Abby is just a name, but "Dear Abby" conjures up images of a frail, old lady who answers letters in the ilk of "yes Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus."
Those who know about "Dear Jimsie," who are also Jimsie's Facebook friends or know his cell phone number, have easy access to Jimsie's excellent advice.
Which is also part of the shtick. Only those who are friends with Jimsie can leave him wall posts and while everyone else who is friends with Jimsie on Facebook can see that post, they cannot always see his response. Due to the privacy measures of Facebook, it is impossible to see a specific person's wall if he is not your friend. This makes "Dear Jimsie" that much more exciting because he always keeps you wondering what advice he has given other people.
In the short history of the "Dear Jimsie" column, he has given advice on relationships, social drinking, managing time conflicts, sleep deprivatio, Alcoholics Anonymous and resolving conflicts.
He provides blunt, straightforward retorts to questions that could potentially become heated arguments between friends and quick responses problems that could prove detrimental to the asker's health were he to have to live with them for long periods of time.
"Dear Jimsie" may seem to be a crass, oftentimes inappropriate salacious column, but in reality there is no better advice you could get. "Dear Abby's" advice is too fluffy, and "Dear Amy's" advice is too non-confrontational. At least Jimsie tells it like it is, and isn't shy about making enemies just to avoid telling the truth. What better advice could you get then the truth?
