Posted on 07/21/2012 11:39:16 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
PEMBROKE, Mass.—Hugh Crossen found himself well into retirement and a little adrift. The former salesman missed meeting new people. As a hobby, he maintains a collection of 7,000 restaurant menus, but he says his wife, Joyce, "isn't as tickled with it as I am."
"It takes up a lot of space in the cellar!" says his spouse.
Fortunately, Mr. Crossen, who is 77 years old, found a new audience in the "Dull Men's Club," a regular gathering in this town south of Boston. There is no agenda other than to salute the quiet eccentricities of everyday life. The club started with two men meeting monthly, and nearly 10 years later includes about 30 men meeting weekly.
The group T-shirt says "Dull But Not Boring." Mr. Crossen met Skippy Sciacca, who knows all the U.S. presidents' middle names and can recite the alphabet backward. Another member, Frank Tobin, might bring a picture of an antique car and award a $2 bill to whoever guesses the make and model. Attendees have discussed hummingbirds and studied park benches around the world. They debated raking leaves versus letting them lie.
"Believe it or not, we spent 2½ meetings on which way to put toilet paper on the roll, over or under," says another regular, Ken Girten, a 76-year-old retired banker. "It was pretty much tied."
Dull-men's groups—and the sentiment behind them—have been around for some time. Some small towns still have general stores where locals gather just to shoot the breeze. In the late 1980s and 1990s, "Seinfeld" popularized the notion of chitchat about nothing and everything.
But devotees of dulldom believe a relentless pace of 24-hour stimulus is driving more people to crave somewhat simpler pleasures.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Next meeting will nominate Romney as Man of the Year.
Here’s what they believe:
* It’s OK to be dull
* No matter where you go, there you are
* We’re giving a good name to a four-letter word
* We don’t get out much
* We don’t keep up with the Joneses (Who are the Joneses anyway?)
* There’s nothing wrong with second place; it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese
More on what they believe:
* Seeking glitz and glam? Why bother?
* It’s OK to be mild.
Not near as dull as the DNC.
Sounds boring....:)
I bet none of them have or will see “The Dark Knight”.
. . . fiddling while Rome burns; ostriches with their heads in the sand. Look around you guys. Surely you could to SOMETHING productive or worthwhile!
Over of course. You don't have as far to reach.
I wonder if these people ever discuss politics at all... or is talking about Elizabeth Warren even duller than talking about toilet paper...
“I POOPED TODAY!!” over worked best.
Under if you have small children or grand-kids. Then when they spin it (by swiping their hand from the top downwards) it stays on the roll.
If you have a Yorkie, set the roll on top of the receptacle so she can’t get hold of the end of the tissue and unroll the whole thing. I learned this after having to gather up a roll of tissue that was now all over the floor.
Great old furniture. Cushy leather wingback chairs. Cigars/pipes/cigs welcome. Blazing fast wifi. Right down the street from a great steakhouse.
My kind of place.
Use less sheets with the over method.
“* No matter where you go, there you are.”
Add this: Why should I travel? I’m already here.
It’s 104 degrees outside. TV sucks. I’m on FreeRepublic. Later I’ll pour myself a drink. Is dull life so bad?
;^)
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