We're all the same species.

Newsflash, people: we're all people. We're all the same species, here. Men and women? Same species. Rich and poor? Same species. Any two random samples of the astounding variety of human skin tones available? Same species. Nerds and Pretentious Social Climbers? Yep, same species.

Which is why this particular post is such a spectacular pile of fail.

This story sounds mean. It’s about a girl judging a boy because he’s a nerd (like so many of us!) that she met on OkCupid.

Now, let's be clear from the outset: this story sounds mean because it is mean. It's a classic case of a writer setting out to show someone's flaws, and highlighting their own instead.

He was thin and tall, dressed in a hedge fund uniform with pale skin and pierced ears. ... And then he casually mentioned that he played Magic: The Gathering when he was younger.

“Actually,” he paused. “I’m the world champion.”
...
Just like you’re obligated to mention you’re divorced or have a kid in your online profile, shouldn’t someone also be required to disclose any indisputably geeky world championship titles?

So, his crime... if I'm reading this right... was coming across as a fairly ordinary guy, even though he had this particularly geeky hobby that he happened to be amazingly good at? What, nerds can't be normal people? Normal people can't have nerdy interests?

Yep, pretty much:

I was lured on a date thinking I’d met a normal finance guy, only to realise he was a champion dweeb in hedge funder’s clothing.

I later found out that he infiltrated his way into OKCupid dates with at least two other people I sort of know, including one of my co-workers.

"Infiltrated". That's right, "infiltrated". Apparently this guy is some sort of Manchurian Ninja Stealth Nerd, I guess. It's all part of the Vast Geek Conspiracy to trick the Popular Blonde Hotties into going out with us.

Or, you know, maybe he's just a nice guy looking for a date. Maybe he didn't realize that having a hobby like M:TG was such a disfiguring social disease that he must warn people in advance about his condition.

That said, it's clear that Ms. Bereznak is absolutely the victim here. I mean, she actually had dinner and drinks with a guy who is obviously, utterly, and irredeemably below her caste - a man who didn't even have the decency to wear a pocket protector, or pull his waistband up too high, or show up in a bright orange blazer, or... well... anything that would signaled his inherent nerdy unworthiness to her. I can only imagine the horror and shame she experienced, and the unrelenting courage and honesty that drove her to write about her experience. She's only lucky it wasn't worse. Imagine if she had found herself talking to someone who plays Dungeons and Dragons... Or worse, a LARPer!

Her date sounds like a very pleasant guy. (Not to everyone's romantic taste, perhaps, but who is?) I can only hope that one day Ms. Bereznak will grow up enough to get over herself. Until then, there's a whole wide world of interesting people that she'll be missing out on.