A Secret Society Until

A Society Kept Secret Until

It was early Friday evening. One by one a group of older men, all seniors in their late sixties to early eighties, climbed up the outdoor stairs to the second floor of a building that housed the business of one of their senior members (senior in length of time of involvement, not in being older than most others). It had been his idea to meet there, and so far it had been a secrecy success. Each man carried with him a bag filled with something . They were very careful in their handling of it so that it would not fall and break. It was clearly precious to each and every one of them.

The women in their lives, them being wives, sisters, and daughters wanted to know what these meetings were all about, but received not so useful information about it. It was just referred to as a ‘gathering of friends,’ with the claim that ‘we don’t drink in these meetings’ added for special effect. Every man kept the meetings secret. They certainly did not want to be mocked for what they were doing. No one would understand.

At the most recent meeting of this secret society, the question had been posed concerning whether or not to include grandsons in the meetings, but it was declined. Most thought that their grandsons would not be fully able to keep the content of their meetings as a secret. They probably would tell grandmothers and mothers what took place.

One of them half jokingly said that he was sure that his grandson ‘Ken’ would be absolutely certain of being a blabbermouth. There was quite a lot of laughter in response to that comment on his part.

Two Newcomers Come to a Meeting

There were two men who had never been to one of the meetings before. They met as each was approaching the stairs that led to the meeting place. One began a conversation. “I could not believe it when I heard about this society on Fridays. I just heard a couple of guys talking about it in the Toby Jug. I suspect they were speaking louder than they wanted to be. I walked over to them, and asked about it. At first they were quite quiet, looking like they just realized that they had been ‘found out’. When I told them that I wanted to go and that I would bring the object that we all shared, you could hear their sighs of relief, and see the smiles come to their faces .How did you find out?”

“I have a cousin with whom I was a close friend when we were children. We still go to to the Toby Jug for drinks sometimes. On one of those occasions, he began to speak rather quietly about the subject, beginning with the words, “Do you still…” When I said ‘yes, or course’, he told me about the meetings and of the society.”

The two men wore deep smiles as they walked up the stairs, and knocked on the door with their free right hands. The door opened quickly and they were greeted with big smiles, and the repeated phrase, “You two are welcome here.

Two Sisters

Two sisters, Cathy and Mary, who had not seen each other for a while got together in the Toby Jug. When Cathy asked Mary, “How are your grandchildren?”, she got a surprising reply. She said, “the grandchildren are fine, but my husband has been doing something uncharacteristic these days and he will not fully explain what it is”. Mary replied with “That’s strange. My husband is going to meetings on Friday nights, and he won’t say much about them.” Cathy said, ‘you are right in calling that strange. My husband is doing the exact same thing, and is likewise not explaining what it is about.” The two women decided that they would find out where their husbands went on a Friday evening. Mary had her own car, a new one that Cathy’s husband had never seen before, and decided that they would park it in a nearby doughnut shop and follow Cathy’s husband to his eventual destination.

The plan worked. They followed him until he drove his car into a parking lot beside a building that had a set of stairs that led to a second floor. They watched Cathy’s husband walk up the stairs with a supermarket bag in his left hand. While they considered it for a short while, they decided not to follow him up the stairs. They did not want him to be considered ‘the one who revealed the men’s secret’. He would be asked about it Saturday morning. At least they knew where their husbands were on a Friday night, and that their husbands were enjoying whatever it was that they were doing.

The Secret is Betrayed

A friend of one of the members found out about the meetings and their purpose one day when he overheard a telephone conversation when he entered his friend’s front door without knocking. He shared his friend’s interest and wanted to join the group. The member told his friend the where, the when, and what he had to bring with him to be considered acceptable.

So the friend was there early, wanting to be sure he would be accepted. He had to wait a few moments for the man with the key to open the door. This would be great, he thought, no more hiding of one of his passions.

When the formal part of the get together began, he was introduced to the other men. He was then asked to show his ‘treasure’ to the others. He reached into the shopping bag which held his prize possession. At first he was applauded, so he passed it around. It was then his major flaw was discovered. One particularly large man spoke up loudly, “This is not a Ken doll that you have here. It is a Justin Bieber doll! It is not the same thing at all. It’s heresy. Get out of here now, and never come back. There was general grumbling support for this statement. And he was led by his two arms out of the meeting place and down the stairs by several members of the secret society.

It would not be a secret society for very long after that. The Justin Bieber man as he was called, spread the news around the town. They were mocked by a few, but many more supported them. There were some, both other men and also women of different ages, who joined with them on a Friday evening.