Advice Wall

When a man finds himself stuck, he often seeks answers from a power beyond himself. Many pray, but there are other systems of mystical divination. The Chinese had the I Ching. Europeans had the tarot, the Norse their rune casting. Americans had the Magic 8-Ball. Down beneath the Exit 26 overpass just outside of Johnsonville stood the Advice Wall, a large expanse of concrete covered in words and phrases, painted on by kids long forgotten. Teenagers, who find themselves confused and needing guidance more than most, would follow the abandoned railroad tracks to the advice wall with a water balloon in hand, and pose their question to the sagely stone. Then, with their eyes closed, they would lob the balloon at the wall, and where the water hit, there they found guidance. Many swore by it, particularly Mayor Filmont, who as a kid fresh out of high school asked the wall what he should do with his life and was told, “iTs youR towN.”

- Originally mailed to P. Brown of Clovis, New Mexico