I'll be blunt: I don't like and don't read advice columns in the newspaper.
It's bad enough my paper carries "Annie's Mailbag" every day. But once during the weekday and in the Sunday section, there's a whole "page" of advice. Even the supplements toss in a column of blather.
I don't have to tell you what's in these columns. Stupid letters from angry, upset, irritated, confused, desperate advice seekers force the lives of my fellow Americans into my little world. Cheating husbands, doped up children, leering bosses, on ad nauseum, are dropped into our laps every day. Some people simply seek justification for their abhorrent behavior.

We each have our problems. And we seek guidance from others, be they friends or "experts". But quite frankly, I don't give a damn (sorry Clark) about the plight of others. That's not to say I'm an uncaring person. It's just that these letters bring me down. There's nothing I can do to help these people. And the advice given is often inane, coming from an unqualified person.

Television talk hosts and hostesses are just as bad. How did Tyra Banks become such an expert on human behavior?
I must be alone in my feelings about this compulsion to fill the airwaves, papers, and magazines with advice gurus. The subject sells. I'm just not buying it.

As an addendum, I admit (and confess) that I sometimes wallow in self pity in a blog post. And I'm not criticizing those that write of nothing but their own trials and tribulations. Blogging is a good outlet. My gripe is the attention and amount of space given to the "advice column" subject. I want my newspapers to contain more news, less "my husband beats me, but I love him".