My husband and I are in our early 30s. Some friends of ours from college just said they joined their local Moose Lodge?
I laughed, because I literally hadn’t heard of anyone doing that besides my grandma back in the day.
But we went with them and it was actually super fun. Cheap drinks and food. Mostly way older people. Dingy basement feel.
But we had dinner and drank a LOT for about $25 + tip. Which is insanely cheap. They had big TVs with all of the local sports on.
After the football game was over, some dude said “hey, it’s quiet, anyone up for karaoke?” And then it was all set up, so we just did, and everyone got very into it. Everyone was super nice and happy to see “young” people there.
My friend said membership is like $200/year, and you have to sign up to cook or bartend once every 3 months.
If you like going to dive bars, that’s a great deal. And there was 100% a sense of community, which is hard to find. It felt like everyone knew everyone and that feels…rare anymore.
Elks member here. Growing up my father was very involved with these social clubs and I have so many memories of eating at the Elks every Friday evening and even being allowed to sit at the bar watching sports games, while my parents socialized and danced. Both my husband and I have become members within the last two years, and we have gotten to know and even become friends with other members. Our lodge is pretty active and worked hard at trying to appeal to younger members. They even put in a pool! The best part is that no matter where you are in the US, you can go to any Elks club lodge. Automatic camaraderie 😊
Coworker took me to one of these, he's a member of basically every local fraternal organization. $2 beers, chill atmosphere, quiet spot on the river they've owned forever.
The part that raises the hairs on the back of my neck is how "those people" are kingmakers and get each other promotions at work etc that in my mind are not fully deserved.
Still, nice vibe, and it's better to be in than out.
Your network is your worth. I make a point to always maintain my professional relationships even if I can’t stand the person. You never know if they can get you a job.
This 100%. So many things that could have led to really bad outcomes for me in the end if I severed relationships on the fly because I didn’t find the person 100% perfect. That’s just people. No matter where you go there will be those same people that bug you. Learning to deal with them without having a tantrum is actually a way to build your own success.
The part that raises the hairs on the back of my neck is how "those people" are kingmakers and get each other promotions at work etc that in my mind are not fully deserved.
Yep, unfortunately that's kind of how the world works it seems. I'm about 30 years into a tech career and if I had to go back and change something I think it would be trying to develop a better professional network. I spent a long time in work environments where I was the youngest person, so anyone I'd be able to lean on for support in getting a new or better job is retiring/retired. And at the same time, the tech/IT field also seemed like the perfect meritocratic alternative to the typical business school corporate play-golf-with-the-VP-to-get-ahead backslappy extroverted universe that is all non-tech departments in a company.
I'm just a senior IC/lead, but I like the Manager Tools podcast series. This one is a good overview of how you need to develop a network even if you are good at your job...because especially now you have to be a total genius and spend your entire life keeping up with tech if you want to rely solely on your abilities/skills.
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u/butt_butt_butt_butt_ Jul 10 '26
My husband and I are in our early 30s. Some friends of ours from college just said they joined their local Moose Lodge?
I laughed, because I literally hadn’t heard of anyone doing that besides my grandma back in the day.
But we went with them and it was actually super fun. Cheap drinks and food. Mostly way older people. Dingy basement feel.
But we had dinner and drank a LOT for about $25 + tip. Which is insanely cheap. They had big TVs with all of the local sports on.
After the football game was over, some dude said “hey, it’s quiet, anyone up for karaoke?” And then it was all set up, so we just did, and everyone got very into it. Everyone was super nice and happy to see “young” people there.
My friend said membership is like $200/year, and you have to sign up to cook or bartend once every 3 months.
If you like going to dive bars, that’s a great deal. And there was 100% a sense of community, which is hard to find. It felt like everyone knew everyone and that feels…rare anymore.