Every friend I've had who's joined Mensa has quit it within a year, muttering darkly about wishing there was an organization for interesting smart people.

My own experiences with Mensans have not spoken well for the group, either. I was at an anti-Valentine's day party thrown by and attended by highly creative, intelligent friends. As I moved from conversation to conversation, I was followed by a mensan whose idea of a pickup line was You should join Mensa so you can be with people who are as smart as you are.

I told him that I already do hang out with intelligent people. I challenged him to walk around the party and find anyone who didn't meet Mensa's IQ requirements.

He was shocked. Only 2% of the average population meet Mensa's intelligence requirements.

Having to explain to him the difference between a party of people hand-picked by our hosts and an average population was not a good advertisement for Mensa.