Smarty Pants

When I was a kid, and did something that backfired or exploded in my face, or burned on the stove, my mother had a favourite response, "Menso!" followed by her astonished at it's own glee, laugh-shout. And by that I mean, that her laugh response was so genuine and so huge that she had to cover her mouth, to cease drawing attention to herself. I had a rooommate that would do this as well, but only when seeing people really really hurt themselves---ah, funny. Well, it took me nigh on twenty years to figure out what she meant by this. menso. I just thought it was another word for 'dummy' in spanish--Not that I spent my life trying to figure out what it meant mind you, just that it was that long before . . . blah blah blah. But one day I realized that she was referring, sarcastically, to a member of this society of intellectuals! So I checked out their site.

"Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by Roland Berrill, a barrister, and Dr. Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer. They had the idea of forming a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ. The original aims were, as they are today, to create a society that is non-political and free from all racial or religious distinctions. The society welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population, with the objective of enjoying each other"s company and participating in a wide range of social and cultural activities."

There's even a Mensa workout!