How NOT To Get A Date

If you're a man on a dating site, probably best not to challenge the women reading your profile with a stupid challenge like, "You should message me if...you can tell me what state the Statue of Liberty is in."

Because every once in a while, a lady like Meg comes along. Meg loves a silly challenge.

I went to trusty Google and typed in, "What state is the Statue of Liberty in?" The first page that came up was the Liberty Island page for the National Park Service, and that page clearly stated that Liberty Island and Lady Liberty herself reside in New York.

So back to the dating site I went, where I sent this guy an opening message: "The Statue of Liberty is in the state of New York."

I figured his question was a trick question--everyone is going to say, "New York," and he will smugly respond, "Oh, no, see, I'm a SMART MAN and I say it's in New Jersey." This is probably his way of weeding out the "dumb girls" so he doesn't waste his time dating them (I'm betting he doesn't get a lot of dates).

He responded a little while later, "No, it's in New Jersey." So I sent him the link to my source, and then said, "If you want to be technical, it's not 'in' either state, as it's on an island!"

And that's where it all started going downhill.

"Look at a map. The Island is on the New Jersey side of the state line. ;-)
(NY claims Liberty Island, NJ never disputed the claim, so it has a NY address, but is located inside the State of New Jersey.)"

See, what we have here is a man who doesn't want to be told he's not entirely correct by a girl. I've got twenty bucks that says when I started defending my side--entirely good-naturedly, too--he felt threatened by my the fact that I can come up with a clever argument for my side of things.

I responded to his "look at a map" challenge by once again consulting Google. Sure enough, Liberty Island is on the New Jersey side of the state line. But I'm not one to just back down and tell a jerk he's smarter than me.

"So it is...I still maintain that it's hard for an island to be 'in' a state, as it's a detached piece of land surrounded by water! And if New York claims the island, and New Jersey never contested the claim, well, then, the island is part of New York. :)"

This is when Liberty Boy told me I'm "rediculous" because clearly, there is land "benieth" the water and the island is IN New Jersey...and also, "islands don't float!"

The funniest part of this whole story is that really, I'm not contesting his statement. The island is, clearly, on the New Jersey side of things. I'm only maintaining that New Jersey doesn't claim the island, and the formal address for the island says New York...so the island is "in" New York as much as a piece of land surrounded by water on the surface, can be. (I also maintain that if you're going to tell someone she is ridiculous, you should at least now how to spell the word.)

So there you have it. Challenging a man's way of thinking about his silly "I'll weed the dumb girls out" question on a dating profile does not land Meg a date. Especially as she may or may not have responded to his last message with, "Islands don't float?!" (I really shouldn't feed the trolls.)

And...calling Meg "rediculous" doesn't land Liberty Boy a date.

I think we're both far better off.