ESSAYS

"Why I joined Mensa" by Jim "Catfish" Brown, Coastal Carolina Mensa excerpted from their newsletter, M-Press, Gil Krebs, Editor.

I'm often asked, "Why did you join Mensa?" My answer is that like many Mensans, I was different as a child. I was a thinker. Saturdays I might be seen going to and from the library, alone, a fat kid with thick glasses walking pigeon-toed as I scratched my bottom. In study hall, as my mind swept away on waves of thought, I picked my nose and murmured to myself. Most kids wondered, "What would the dog's legs look like if someone shaved them?" That's a normal adolescent thought. I was curious enough to carry it out. My mind, precocious in things scientific, would hunger for answers: Is there a God? Do I possess Free Will? What would happen if I were to coax little brother Gordon and his friend Jeff to eat a box of Ex-Lax? Can a Unified Field Theory be developed?

Mom's garden club is to meet in the living room. Can I anticipate where old Mrs. Brantley will sit in order to secrete a whoopee cushion to trumpet her arrival?

Why do we exist? Scientists agree that these questions may never be answered. The important thing, though, is that I asked them. Some I tried to answer by means of the scientific method. Others that I couldn't quite get a handle on I thought about while making gunpowder or trying to take Jeanette Broome's vital signs.

We Mensans are different. We take pride in our uniqueness because the job, no matter how tough, must fall to someone. Someone must always be there to grease Mr. Rainey's tractor seat and to superglue Mrs. Gleason's glasses to her face while she naps. In this great land of ours, proud young Americans must be found who, like me, will not waver when the times comes to pour potassium hydroxide in Mr. Tuffs hemorrhoid ointment. And that's why I became a Mensan.

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"Why do I stay in Mensa?" by Ralph Rudolph, LocSec of NM Mensa 2002

It's quite simple. I've stayed a member since 1969 because I like the people. Mensa has meant instant friendship through many job moves, and that gets harder to do as you get older. I even found my wife, Penny, through the Mensa Singles Network. We shared a common past of being involved in racing cars, acting in the theater, a love of writing/editing, and most important: a sense of humor and of the absurd. We're both doers as well, she as a professional writer and me in organizations. I've served in so many local and national positions in Mensa (and other organizations) that I stopped counting. Through all this, I've learned a lot and made more friends than I can count. A couple of enemies as well.

It was fun 33 years ago and it's still fun. New Mexico Mensa has made me feel "at home" immediately. Nice people!