By Stephenie Crowley
As you know, this last month was election time for American Mensa. Because I’m MAAM Editor, I received quite a few campaign statements (all of which I tried to post on our Website for your reading pleasure).
But I also received something much nastier.
I know we’ve got our share of uglies in Mensa, but this was vicious. An unsigned, cowardly, no-return-address envelope out of St. Louis with snide, arch characterizations of American Mensa members who (I assume) are running for office. And (once again, I assume) the sender thought his/her putrid character assassinations would be of interest to me.
They were. I’m interested in knowing what rock this person crawled out from under, to spend time, money, and postage on such adolescent drivel. I’m interested in knowing what he/she had in mind — what’s the attempted effect?
It certainly had an affect on me — a strong urge to call a psychiatrist friend of mine and have him recommend incarceration for the author.
Get a life. This is just a social organization, not the United Nations. The power that the AMC Chairman wields is, I have a feeling, just short of what my cat has. Not to denegrate the Chairman or my cat, but honestly, folks, how much effect does Mensa have on national policy or world peace? How many millionaires are made in the Fort Worth offices of Mensa? How often do any of the officers star in movies with Sharon Stone or Tom Cruise because of their position with American Mensa?
Get a life. Stop spending your time trying to damage, insult, harm, or otherwise impair people who are giving time, effort, energy, and money to create a social organization which should be a haven from the slings and arrows we suffer daily.
Get a life. Turn all that negative energy into something positive. Build, don’t tear down. (It’s always easier to tear down, though, which is why the proportion of, say, graffiti makers to homebuilders is so high.)
Get a life. Tip the cosmic scales toward order rather than entropy. Help someone for the sheer pleasure of helping. Bite your tongue when you’re tempted to pull somebody down.
Get a life. Join the Mensans who have put their time and effort (and risk being a target) into running for office — and at least vote for ’em.
And stop sending me your toxic waste, buster, whoever you are.