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Fake Advice Questions

Here at Got Help? we receive quite a lot of letters from readers asking Me for advice. Me does her best to answer all questions, however recently we were sent one letter that seemed real enough on its own, but then more followed that happened to seem very fake. Two replies were sent, initially, just to be on the safe side, but the last letters were simply too outrageous to even merit a response.

So we thought we would post them. They would have been posted no matter what, had they gone in the normal advice section, but these really require a whole section to themselves.

It is a series of letters all from one person - supposedly two, however the writing style is identical in all letters, no matter who claims to have written them, and it seems very much like it's just one person writing all of them. On top of that, some of the details (such as ages) change between letters, even when they are meant to be written by the same person.

Read them. They're rather entertaining, especially the melodramatic subject lines, the concluding lines of the final letter, some other various points of humour (commented on in red), and the ironically fitting surname of Allan (just try and tell us his name isnt made up).

Then, once you've read them, e-mail us and let us know if you agree that the whole thing is a farce.

Subject: question about legal love
Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2001

You can address me as Renee, I am 14 yrs old and I have a 26 yr old friend who I think might be in love with me. Many guys look at me and think I am much older. When I tell them my true age most of them know to look away. But it is different for me when my close friend whom I've known since I was 8 yrs old hints that he is interrested in me. Even at 8, he was 20 at the time, he told me to see him in 10 years and later I found out from my mom that he told her at the time to "keep her pure".
He has always been good to me. He has never hurt me in any way. I feel comfortable enough to talk to him about most anything, but this sitiuation. One time when we were taking a walk, he said he could see much potential in me. He is the best friend of my brother. My family likes him, but I don't know for sure if my parents know how he feels about me. My brother knows and, according to my brother, my friend is still a virgin and he wants to save himself for "that special person".
[Why does that seem somewhat random?]


Three years ago my friend left for the military; on his leave time he would always visit my brother and me. We usually had fun together. In December 1999 he celebrated New Year's Eve with us. When the rest of the family was asleep he and I would talk. We talked about what we each want in a relationship. At that time I did not suspect his interest in me, But when I think back to our conversation,,,,I realize that he could have asked me those questions to see how he needs to be.
On my 13th birthday I received a beautiful card from him... it seemed like a love card. With the card came a letter, The letter was warning me about all the bad people-types I might encounter in Life.
['Bad people-types', and also pay close attention to the capitalisation.] It was kind of scary. Further in the letter suggested his Hopes for me, I sense that he spoke true from his heart, but I also sensed that he is hinting his love for me. I called him and asked what he meant by the letter, he explained it as a "Faith Letter", wishing me a good teenage life, I feel that his letter was more than just that. I asked him further If he was suggesting me to be his girlfriend. I told him that the letter made me feel uncomfortable, he said he was sorry, he didn't mean it that way. I told him that maybe it is best if he stops writing me......

I felt like crying because I think I hurt his feelings. We said goodbye, and hung up. It seems all so strange, that someone that age would be attracted to me. I do not believe that he would or could harm me, because we have been friends for so long. I trust him but how can we keep a friendship without geting too close?? What do you think I should do? Is he really in love with me? If he is, how should I treat him? I value his friendship, he has influenced me in positive ways. I trust him but I do not know how to not hurt him. I remember when a girl he loved before left him for my brother. My brother felt terribly guilty, and I know my friend was hurt as well. I felt sorry for both of them, during that time they were not communicating. But I continued to be a friend for him. I think it is that period when my 26 yr old friend got close to me. Now I feel like I've hurt him again. Please send your reply.

[And now for nearly the exact same letter, written all over again, but with certain details altered...]

Subject: How can I love him?
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001

Dear Vrinda or Andrea, or both,


Please give me some advice in the following sitiuation...

I am 15 yrs old and I have a 27 yr old male friend who is in love with me. [Interesting how they both grew a year in the course of about a week...] I look older than most of my friends, and often older guys usually in their 20s are attracted to me, most often they mistake me for being of legal age. I tell them my real age and they leave me alone. But this friend of mine has known me for a long time. I remember him when I was 8 years old. Even at that time he told me to see him in 10 years and then he toldmy mom to "keep me pure". He has always been good to me. He has never hurt me in any way. I feel comfortable enough to talk to him about most things, except for his feelings for me. He is my brother's Best friend. [Again, note the capitalisation.] All of my family likes him. I think my brother and my mom are the only ones who know of his special interest for me. We don't talk about it though. According to my brother and this man's friends, He is still a virgin by choice, and he told them that he wants to save himself for the right girl. [Now it seems even more random.] I had a crush on him once, but, now that I am older, the idea that he has been attracted to me for years seems strange, it feels odd that a guy his age would have been attractedto me, even before I reached puberty.

I did not realize his long term interest in me until just recently. Three years ago he had left for the military. On his leave he would visit my brother and me. We usually had fun together. In December 1999 he spent New Year's Eve with us. After the celebration the rest of the family went to sleep. He and I would stay awake and talk. We talked about what each of us would like in a relationship. At the time I still did not know his feelings for me. He talked about a mysterious girl he was interested in. It was not until later that I realized the girl he was talking about was me. Shortly after The New Year holiday he went back to his base in Washington. On my 13th birthday he had sent a beautiful birthday card to me, It didn't look like the type of card one would send to a teenager, it looked sort of romantic. Along with the card he sent a letter detailing a warning against all of the possible bad-people-types I might encounter in my teenhood. His letter was straight-forward and kind of scary. Further in the letter I coud sense his true feelings for me.

I called him and told him the letter made me feel uncomfortable. He apologized and said that it was not his intent to make me feel that way. I felt like I had hurt his feelings. It seems all so strange to me. I don't believe that he would ever hurt me. But I'm not sure how to keep a friendship with him without getting too close.

?What do you think????? [I love the excessive question marks.]

??Is he really in love with me????

???If he is, how should I treat him???

I value his friendship but I'm not sure how to be his friend. I trust him but I'm not sure how to not hurt him. I remember when a girl he loved left him for my brother. There was much pain in that whole sitiuation. I felt sorrow for both of them. Now He loves me and I don't know what to do.He has returned from the military and he has visited us since his time back. I have been friendly towards him. We have so far talked about music. [That is the most random thing to throw in there.] I don't know if his feelings are exactly the same. ......WRITE ME YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE MATTER..... [How demanding we've gotten, all of a sudden!]

[And now for the truly hilarious half of this whole saga...]

From: Allan Honest
Subject: ?What is My Love?
Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001

Dear, both, Vrinda and Andrea,
from Alan,


You might remember Renee writing to you. She shared some of her letter and some of your nswers with me. She recomended that I talk to you about my love life. You were right on target with me except for one thing..
[The letter sent to Renee is rather trite and it was felt that it was not necessary to post it, especially since you're about to see further evidence that this whole thing is fake.]


~About My Background~
I am an only child. I have always desired siblings and a larger family. At a late age I found a family
which I am fond of.
[The categorisation is hilarious, as if this is a timeline about a highly interesting person about whom everyone wishes to know things - how is half of this even relevent? Why would a random person share such detailed explanations of his life??]


~The Family I Adopted.~
I had spent many nights with this family. I would eat with them; go to church with them; work with and shop with them, and we would watch movies together. I did everything with them that a normal family would do. They had been with me in hard times and they gave me a place to go, as a home away from home. I was close to all of them. I am the best friend of Renee's brother whom I will call Douglas, and her family, which I will call the Roses, seem to like me as well.
[Even the names are only pseudonyms!]

~Separation~
Everything was good, until I introduced my girlfriend, whom I will call Amron
[Where on Earth did this person come up with these names??], to my friend Douglas. She left me for my only best friend, it hurt me deeply enough to where I was having suicidal thoughts. Because I had fallen in love with this girl, I wanted to marry her. It came a total shock to me, I did not expect it at all! Even worse she started to get involved with the family I loved so dearly. She had stolen my best friend and it appeared that she was taking my place in my chosen family!! I could not stand to be near the pain any more!!! So I joined the military to escape it all. [If this were all real, I would tell him to seek help; that is the most insane reaction ever.]


~Turbulent Times.~
[Such drama!]
In all this struggle - a loss of love, a loss in friendship, an invasion of security, and total separation of family
[for goodness' sake, people DO break up!] - I wanted to somehow stay connected to the Roses. I could not bear to talk to Douglas, so I only talked to Renee and her mom. They were helpful in our conversations. Eventually I was able to talk to Douglas. He told me some of the things him and Amron were doing...


~Battling Influences~
[Hahahaha.]
I recognized some of the relationship tactics Amron was using on Douglas...I warned him about what was going to happen next...My prediction came true and they had broken up! I was happy now that my friend was back on Track!!
[1) Note the capitalisation! And remember this is meant to be a different person! 2) I love how he makes himself sound as if he's happy for his friend's sake, and not out of any jealousy at all.] But he was trying to hold on to a friendship with Amron. And I found out that she was trying to influence Renee to be A manipulater like her!! On top of that I learned, from talking to Renee, that my other friend, whom I will call Bri [Haha, the names!], was also trying to influence Renee to get interested in Vampires. I was furious!! Burning with anger!! Because I know both Amron and Bri had alterior motives, Especially Bri, I know his erotic fetishes pertaining to Vampirism. [You can't tell me that whole thing isn't hilarious.] As much as I know about him, he was seducing Renee into sick pleasures!!!!I Swear if I was there he would have been beat down to a pulp!!!!I Managed to call him and let him know how angry I was and that his life would be in danger if he were to ever get close to Renee again!!!!! [The !!! remind me an awful lot of the ??? seen earlier, from Renee.] I was dissapointed in Renee's parents and brother for not supervising her encounters very well!!! A long time ago when Renee was 8 yrs old I specifically told her mom to keep her pure. My faith in her family's protection was no more! I feel that it is my duty to salvage Renee from certain forthcoming doom. [Forthcoming doom, WOW. Intense. What a saint, too, taking her salvation upon himself, like that. And I do so love how he happens to mention all the exact same little details that Renee did in both her letters.]

~Secret Guardian~
I am protective of her. I will ward off anyone that I can, who I think is of bad influence to her. I worry about her every day when I think she will venture alone. She does not know any of this.
[Well she does now.]


~For Her~
She looks older than most girls her age. She is and will be a beautiful lady. She seems mature and highly intelligent. I have been fond of her since I first met her. I see much growing potential in her. I have lots of hope for her future. I have loved her with all my heart for seven years. I would do anything for her. I want her to know, but how could I tell her? What would her parents think? How can I tell them? Her brother knows. My closest friends know. But neither of the families know. How could she love me? I am willing to wait 4 more years. But I am dying to know if she could ever love me the same way. ?What do you think about the sitiuation?
[Are we Spanish, now? Note how Renee did the same thing.] Could it ever work? Please give me some much needed advice on the matter. On her 13th birthday I sent her a birthday card with a faith letter attached. She told me it made her feel uncomfortable. I apologized, and we hung up. It felt like an indirect rejection. I cried all that night. I am now out of the Army and I am back home. I have seen them since then. The closeness does not feel the same. I long for the friendship again... Please E-mail me your much needed advice.
From: got_answers@hotmail.com
Re: Must I register?

Dear Allan,

No, but it's only been two days since you sent your question, please be patient here, we are quite busy ourselves, and we reply to letters as soon as we have the time. Your friend did not receive her reply for a week, but it did still come.

In answer to your question, in my honest opinion, you asked if she would ever love you, and what you should do about the matter. I really do think that, if she's feeling this uncomfortable about things, you should maintain the friendship but not try to push it any further, and wait. You did say
that you were willing to wait four years for her, however I would not tell her such a thing because it would only make her more uncomfortable; it would put pressure on her, and maybe even make her feel guilty if, perhaps, she didn't end up having those feelings for you. For the time being, I would
try to work out your friendship, and discuss that aspect of it with her, to maintain that level of closeness, and not put to her any more questions about a romantic involvement. No matter how mature she may be, she IS still only 15.

---Me
From: Allan Honest
Subject: Hopes for Renee = urgent worry
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001

To Answers reply,
from Allan,
Thank you for your reply. I apologize for my lack of patience. Lately my hopes for Renee have become an urgent matter. She has been Homeschooled all her life, until this year - now she has chosen to go to a public High School. Both her parents work early, Her older sister has a disease which cripples her from driving
[It only gets more dramatic], and her brother is only living at home temporarily. Renee was given a car and she is applying for a "Hardship Drivers License". Since I am currently unemployed, I offered to take her to school. Her mother said, "No, that's Okay." That statement by her mother makes me wonder how much she knows of my interest in Renee. [He got all that from, "No, that's okay."?] I hope, she only said that because she does not trust my driving, rather than that she doesn't trust me. ?Why do you think Renee's mom said that? I felt safer for Renee when she was Homeschooled. I am worried now that she is going Public. I know her exquisite, beauty and remarkable intelligence, along with her isolated social Innocence will attract horny male Wolves. Especially Stupid Teenage guys! [I just...hahahaha, I can't even come up with the words to reply to that. And furthermore, does he not sound about 14 himself? If the kid who wrote all this wanted it to be realistic, he/she could at least have tried to make Allan sound his age.]


With her complicated unique personality, chances are she will encounter all the people-types I warned her against.
[Chances are that it's going to be pretty hard for her not to encounter any 'people-types' in her life - and note the exact same wording there.] It will be more difficult for me to protect her without looking like one of the wolves. One thing that gives me some comfort is the last time she spoke to me she told me that she saved all my letters because she never knows when she might need to use them. I still worry about her, because I have seen many young girls make crippling mistakes with foolish and Abusive guys. It is very rare to find anyone with any sort of willpower or even an ounce of desire to save themselves for marriage.

??Should I worry at all?? I also worry about her later on. She had told me that in 4 or 5 years she plans to go to a school in Chicago. Maybe what I am really worried about is that I may lose her. She seems to be my last hope for a wife. [If you talk the way you have in these letters, that really doesn't surprise me.] I haven't found another like her. I desire a future with her. My previous girlfriend, whom I was in love with, Changed her feelings for me when she moved away. I figured it was due to the distance that separated her from loving me. But I found out that she was seeing my friend only 15 minutes away. ???Do you see why I feel the way I do??? I want our possabilities for a relationship to remain open. I am in fear of losing a potential relationship with "Reneea Rose". [What a name! And I love how the spelling of her first name is suddenly different. Also, didn't Renee introduce herself as if Renee was a pseudonym? How did Allan end up then calling her by the same assumed name?]

????Do you think there is a possible future for us together???? She may not be The One for me. I hope she could be. If I am not the one for her I want her to find someone who is Trustworthy and I know for sure He loves her with all his heart, as I do. I have tried to find others to be in love with. I haven't found anyone else yet. I am growing weary of being alone. I am tired of seeing females foolishly falling for Stupid and Cruel guys. I am a Trustworthy, loyal, and Loving man. ?????Why do girls seem to not go for that????? I have not seen any other girl who is Loving, attractive, and smart enough to meet my standards. Those are the only (3) traits I am looking for in a lady. [What is with the parenthetical 3, there?] "Reneea Rose" seems to be the only one that could fit; Any other, looks like I'll have to custom build myself. [Uh...what? Are we talking like 'Weird Science' here, now?] ??????Where do you think I could find someone who could fit my personality?????? I suspect girls distrust me because I seem unreal. [HAHAHAHA. No, really!? Get out of here!] ???????How do you think I could let them know that I am as True as I show??????? I cannot stand to be alone much longer..... I feel Death pulling at my heart.... My hopes are vanishing...... and my mind is shutting down....... [Do I really even need to comment on this last part??]

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