Second of a four-part series dealing with retirement.
Rob, our fictional hero, becomes bored after six months of retirement and begins to hunt around for stimulation. He meets a SIR (Sons in Retirement) group on the golf course and is invited to their next meeting.
Even when he awoke that morning, Rob wasn’t sure if he would attend the SIR meeting he had been invited to. Certainly after meeting a few SIRs on the putting green at the golf course and hearing about the organization, he felt like going with the flow. But now, as the time neared he wasn’t so sure. He’d looked at the SIR web site and couldn’t find a reason not to go. He had selected a branch website near to where he lived and liked the list of activities they had available for members. But, even so, he wasn’t a joiner and hated to go to meetings where he didn’t know anyone.
‘Are you going to that thing you talked to me about?” his wife asked. “Maybe, maybe not. Not sure.” he replied.
“Well if you don’t go you’ll need to find something around here for lunch. This is my card day, and I won’t be around.”
That settled it. Another homemade tuna lunch all alone was not what he had in mind. “Guess I’ll go.”
When he walked into the big hall and saw over a hundred guys milling around, he hesitated. But before he could turn and run he was grabbed by a couple of guys with “Greeter” badges on. Before he knew it he was part of the melee.
Actually things went quite well for Rob. He didn’t mind the opening with the pledge of allegiance, as he had always been a patriotic guy – or the brief prayer. The short business meeting really consisted of a litany of all the activities these guys were involved in. He heard golf which was one of his favorites, poker which he loved but didn’t do anymore, bridge which he would participate in, morning walks, eating out, trips both local and international – and on and on. Frankly he was floored by the variety and found himself caught up in the possibilities.
The lunch was acceptable and reasonably priced, and the people he sat with seemed likeable. The after-lunch speaker was humorous and short and did educate him on a little bit of local politics.
Someone handed him an application and made a low-key pitch on joining. He was in and out in a couple of hours, and overall it wasn’t that bad. Later that afternoon his wife quizzed him on the lunch.
He found himself caught up in the prospects of joining the golf group which played a different local course each week.
“Why not?” he thought. This looked like the ideal situation for him. There was “no pressure,” and it had all the activities he loved plus a lot more. He could go to a couple of meetings, see how they golf and other activities went, and then either keep going or quit. Better yet, there was no fee for joining. The only requirement was that he attend at least four or five meetings per year and pay for his lunch.
Rob filled out the application and sent it along.
Next month: Rob gets involved and boredom goes out the window.