There are a number of groups of people who get together down at our local shops for coffee and conversation, and I belong to one of them! This is a form of community which is important and can perform key functions in our increasingly isolating world! This particular idea works well for us retired gentlemen, which is a demographic that can easily become isolated. This has been exacerbated by Covid.
I belong to the local Anglican church and this group was started by Scott, our previous minister some eight years ago and it has been operating ever since. Originally, one of the gentlemen decided we needed to have T-shirts and so we all got T-shirts with the logo “Grumpy Old Man Club – only happy when complaining” and thus we became the Grumpy Old Men or in short “Grumpy Club” or just Grumpy’s.
We meet at 10:00am on a Thursday outside the coffee shop at the local shops, usually one member gets there a bit early to claim a seat so that we usually sit in the same area, and other locals know us. We get coffee and sometimes sweet treats at the coffee shop, and then proceed to solve the world’s problems together.
Attendance will vary from week to week, depending on availability of the Grumpy’s. It may be five or six one week and then over a dozen the next. The group is accessible with two current members being in wheelchairs and one with a mobility scooter. Not all members of the Grumpy’s are current church members and that is not a pre-requisite for membership.
The group has a Facebook page to keep in touch with and one of the founding members also set up a Skype group. This was very handy and much used when Covid was keeping people in lockdown. We would all grab a cup of coffee and meet on Skype together so that we could maintain the group. One member who recently moved away keeps in contact via the skype group, and we still get attendees who have moved out of the local area, but make a point of coming back when they can on a Thursday.
This contact has proved to be important over the years and more than one member who has been going through a rough time has found support, consolation and encouragement from the other Grumpy’s.
It has also proved to be just plain fun!
You can start your own Grumpy group easily enough, just pick a time, date and a place and invite your mates. Good luck!
There was also a women's group (Grumpy Old Women?) who met on a Wednesday, but unfortunately that group did not survive the Covid shut down.
Our beloved leader Capt. Mannering, oops, I mean Scott.
