OLD MEN’S GROUP
Six of us old men, retired from working at Warren Wilson College or married to someone who worked there, meet every Friday at 10 a.m. at the McDonalds in Black Mountain. We meet at McDonalds because their senior coffee only costs $1 and tastes as good or better than Starbucks coffee and because we can sit there for as long as we want with no one indicating that we should give the space to someone else. Almost no one comes into McDonalds and yet McDonalds is very busy. There is a line of cars outside ordering to go food which I guess people eat in their cars.
We sit in a circle and talk for an hour and a half. I can’t remember what we talked about this Friday, I never remember what we talk about. It isn’t what we talk about that matters, it is the process of sitting in each other’s presence and listening to each other and saying whatever pops into our heads. For some reason sitting in each other’s presence feels really good. This quiet hour together is often the high point of the week.
BILLYBABA’S WANDERING 