DAILY MANIFESTO

Female Gizmodo Editor Publicly Bashes Magic: The Gathering Champion, Then Gets Bashed By Public

Posted on Tuesday, August 30 @ 12:21:53 Eastern by Nicholas Tan

Judging people on shallow stuff is human nature, and the magic and absurdity of online dating is how immediately and directly it throws that into relief.

This is how Gizmodo editor Alyssa Bereznak opens her scathing, ridiculous, bitchy rant against her OKCupid date with World Champion Magic: The Gathering Player Jon Finkel.

After receiving lots of dumb, creepy messages on the website, she saw an IM by a guy named Jon who seemed normal: "You should go out with me :)". Jon shows up "dressed in a hedge fund uniform" on their first date, they talk about "normal stuff", and then she finds out that he's the world champion at Magic: The Gathering. She thinks it's a joke, but she doesn't realize she's being Counterspelled.

Soon realizing that he was for real, she goes into a judgmental tizzy on their second date. Yep, a Gizmodo editor going on an anti-geek rant:

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? But maybe it was a long time ago? We met for round two later that week.

At dinner I got straight down to it. Did he still play? "Yes." Strike one. How often? "I'm preparing for a tournament this weekend." Strike two. Who did he hang out with? "I've met all my best friends through Magic." Strike three...

This is what happens, I thought, when you leave things out of your online profile. I later found out that Jon infiltrated his way into OKCupid dates with at least two other people I sort of know, including one of my co-workers. Mothers, warn your daughters! This could happen to you...

Maybe I'm an OKCupid asshole for calling it that way. Maybe I'm shallow for not being able to see past Jon's world title. I'll own that.

Owning bitchiness is not an excuse for being bitchy. Do you know why Jon Finkel didn't say he was the World Champion at Magic: The Gathering in his profile? Because of people like Alyssa Bereznak. Strike one. Even worse, she acknowledges the shallowness of her snap judgments. Strike two. And then she totally learns the wrong lesson. Strike three.

No online dating profile in the world is comprehensive enough to highlight every person's peccadillo, or anticipate the inane biases that each of us lugs around. There's no snapshot in the world that can account for our snap judgments.

So what did I learn? Google the shit out of your next online date. Like, hardcore.

No, Alyssa. Beyond the fact that Googling someone just by their first name is dumb, like hardcore, the point is to learn, let's call it, empathy. Or wisdom. Or maturity. Or not abusing your power as an editor to humiliate someone by name just because you're superficial. Or respecting that people have cards in their hand called secrets that they don't want to reveal until they're ready.

If you have no idea what that last bit means, I suggest mentioning that you wrote this now high-profile article, which has garnered 14 responses on Google News and multiple scumbag images on Reddit, on your OKCupid profile. 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 famous articles you've written? Okay, maybe I'm an asshole for calling this article "famous". I'll own that.

Instead, just reveal your name on OKCupid, so that people can Google the shit out of you before they date you. Like, hardcore.

Tags: Goodies

Comments

213EDD
Joined: Sep 2007

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Nick you are now my favorite asian.

0 4

usaglory
Joined: Mar 2009

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 1:31 pm
Now when I read anything by Nick, I can't help but think how much cooler it would be if done My Asian Farm style.

0 4

De-Ting
Joined: Nov 2006

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 1:21 pm
Raugh out roud.

0 0

OdiousLupous
Joined: Jul 2011

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
She'll become infamous as a hateful meme and well deserved. He is, once again, a champion.

0 1

GuerillaMatzilla
Joined: May 2011

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 1:25 pm
It's pretty hilarious the images, and it's interesting too, but it seems like she's trolling for hits as a freelance journalist. Like you say earlier, Gizmodo editor on an anti-geek rant, doesn't really make much sense on a site which seems somewhat tech and gadget focused.

0 0

stylekiller
Joined: Jul 2011

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Never **** with ninja nick tan. Awesome.

0 1

Longo_2_guns
Joined: Jun 2003

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 1:51 pm
For the record, this really came to be because of a bunch of misogynistic threads on 4chan. So we've got them to thank for this.

0 1

StickyGreenGamer
Joined: Jul 2011

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
What an unpleasant shrew. I can sympathize with the guy, and I'm sure a good chunk of readers here can as well. He isn't a bad looking guy, he just has a hobby that isn't exactly mainstream acceptable. I've got some nerdy habits as much as the next guy, and like every other straight (I assume gay men do it just the same), when I'm out with someone for the first time, I keep that **** to myself! The goal of a first date is to get a second one (or, something else). Blurting out all the "nerdy" things you do is the quickest way to insure that doesn't happen.

CCG World Champion is the kind of thing you don't mention until the drawers have dropped and the wizard hat comes on. I'm also willing to bet she failed to disclose the four plus hours of Lifetime TV she watches daily, but you don't see him ripping her for that. End rant.

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OdiousLupous
Joined: Jul 2011

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 7:41 pm
So using "baby your ass must be a land card cuz Im gonna tap it so hard" is out of the question?

0 3

RoadieTrash
Joined: Jul 2006

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 8:24 pm
I just got a Giant Growth and Trampled your uterus.

0 3

the_original_xy
Joined: Feb 2011

Posted: Aug 31st, 2011 at 1:02 pm
that is people speak stuff right there

0 1

Sammo
Joined: Oct 2005

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
Props for working "peccadillo" into her quote. Teeheehee.

0 0

Bras
Joined: Jul 2008

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Peccadillo sounds like something I would order with bolognese sauce and mushrooms

0 1

Bretimus_v2
Joined: Jan 2009

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 9:48 pm
World champion? Nerdy or not, that's an accomplishment. It's not like he rolled the Toys-R-Us, he rolled the WORLD! And what's worse, a guy who is in to Magic and is incapable of speaking of anything else? Or a guy who would rather talk to you about things that might interest you or form a relationship on something more relatable?

For shame.

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LawnGnome
Joined: Apr 2007

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
He can do way better than her. Besides being a massive douche, she kinda looks like a dude. You'd think that a MTG world champ wouldn't have to resort to online dating!

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drathbone
Joined: May 2011

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
You haven't heard? She's a tranny!

0 2

drathbone
Joined: May 2011

Posted: Aug 30th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Something she didn't include in her OKC profile.

0 2

Bretimus_v2
Joined: Jan 2009

Posted: Aug 31st, 2011 at 8:10 am
Scrolled through his AMA on Reddit...dude stayed classy.

0 0