I’m reading an interesting thread on the
forums about value of membership, and whether to renew or not. I think it's
reasonable to claim that I've had more than my fair share of unkind treatment
from members during my years of service. I am a life member, but even so, I can
certainly quit, or at the very least, stop attending events, refrain from
participating in forum discussions, and refuse to lift a finger. But I'm
staying. After thinking about it for a while I came up with two main reasons:
commitment and self-definition
.
Commitment
I ended up with a degree in French; I stuck
it out for nearly a decade, even though I hated every class I took after the
first one in 7th (I had a crush on Monsieur Russell). It started out with
such potential and excitement. And for a few subsequent years, I just kept
hoping the boredom and frumpy teachers were anomalies and that it would
surely get better next year. By the time I realized that Monsieur Russell was
the anomaly, I'd already put in so much time that if I'd quit, all the
suffering through Mesdames Vieille and Ennuyeuse would have been for
naught. The effort wasted. So I stuck it out and eventually ended up, believe
it or not, as a French teacher. Yeah, the universe is a funny place.
Mensa... it's little like that. I've put
so much into it, that if I quit now, all my work will be for nothing. Without really
doing so consciously, I made a commitment to learning French.
A few years ago, when I became a life member,
it was not because I was crazy rich, nor because I figured it'd be a wise
investment (we really did run the numbers regarding estimated investment
returns on the money versus estimated inflation of dues rates). I became a life
member as a commitment to the organization. So just as people stay in rocky and
and stressful marriages, screaming when it's really bad and helping to rebuild
after a setback, I'm staying.
Self-Definition
The second reason I stay
is the same reason I spend stupid money on my fingernails. I don't need them. They
make it hard to open things. None of my friends even notice them anymore. My
career as a hand model is never going to take off. But to me, they have
become part of my self-identity. I have long hair, glasses, and manicured
nails.
I'm a Mensan, as I have
been for nearly half my life. It's part of who I am.
