Reflections On A Tavern
And Freemasonry
I’ve written before about the fact that my wife and I are bar people. We really enjoy eating out, and we do it often. But most often we do it in a bar.
I can’t seem to find any of my old essays where I explained why we are bar people, so I can’t link them here, but, primarily it is because of kids. The Children. We like kids, we’ve got our own. Grand kids too. And we enjoy going out to eat with them.
It’s other people’s kids that drive us to bars. Not the ones that can behave, but the darling little monsters. The little buggers who run around a restaurant screaming and hollering, all while their parents are too busy scrolling on their phones to actually notice that their little monsters are ruining the experience for everyone else.
So, we declare ourselves bar people. We hang out in those few places where monsters aren’t allowed.
And to be honest, we prefer dives. Nothing better in our opinions than a good dive bar.
We used to have, for many years, a favorite dive in our little city. Lots of our friends didn’t like it, but we always did. We liked the food. The staff babied us, and we pretty much knew all the regulars. Unfortunately, things changed. The food went downhill, and the service degraded.
So, we were forced to find a new dive.
And we found it. A great new dive. A bar that has been in our city for as long as anyone can remember, but that had a new owner, and undergone extensive remodeling. It was a bit fancier than our former dive, but the food was good, as was the service. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long. The place quickly grew quite successful. While ordinarily that would be a good thing, the owners jacked up the prices quite substantially, and left staffing levels the same, which resulted in service becoming extremely slow. Like wait an hour or more to get a burger for lunch slow.
So, we were once again forced to find a new dive.
Again, we were successful. This place, like the last, has been in our city since just about forever. The food is great, and the service is good. No remodel here, I imagine there hasn’t been a change to the place since the 1970’s. It’s cool though, and we’ve had an awful lot of meals in there over the past six months or so. Kind of interestingly, when we go (anytime between lunch and dinner) the overwhelming number of customers are always the same people. Late middle aged old farts like us. We’ve got to know a lot of them, and hugs are not uncommon.
Recently though, we had some late night event or another, so had to get dinner well beyond any civilized hour. That quickly taught us that our dive bar certainly isn’t our dive bar late at night!
We hit the door and there was some mix of discords flowing through the sound system that the other patrons seemed to think was music but that we felt was closer to nails on a chalkboard. The joint reeked of dope, the smoke of which was probably flowing in through one of the doors. Everyone was quite young, and I’m pretty sure that we were the only people in there without vapes in our hands.
So, we learned that our dive bar is our dive bar, only until late night when the younger adults come out to play.
I write about all of this, because I think that there is a strong lesson for our Lodges in this Tavern.
Our Lodges have Masons of all ages. In Centralia we’ve got them from their 90’s to their 30’s. Just like my dive bar. It’s got us older folks, and it’s got young people. Lots of guys between them too, guys like me.
But, the dive bar has made things comfortable for everyone. Go at a reasonable hour and enjoy a fairly quiet environment with good food and good service. Go late night and watch people bouncing around to current music at full volume while sucking on their vapes as if they contained manna from heaven.
And that’s what we have to do in our Lodges. We have to make them comfortable for those Masons who joined 60 years ago, and we have to make them comfortable for those Masons who joined a single year ago. Because one size doesn’t fit all.
Why one man comes to Lodge, and the value he finds in doing so will be different from another man. And that’s OK. We just need to ensure that both men find value. That speaks to diversity of activities and programs.
Maybe a Brother who always loved assisting with Degrees has trouble remembering the ritual now. Instead of skipping over him, or pushing him into doing something he can’t really do anymore, we should give him some other job. Some other way that he can contribute and feel valued. Maybe a new Mason is really good at leading discussions, well, we should let him lead discussions instead of keeping that with an unchanging old guard. The key is that there be something in the Lodge for all of our active members.
An experience in the Lodge for everyone.
Just as there is an experience in my dive bar for everyone.
I find it kind of funny that when I was younger my parents often warned us of the dangerous, and perhaps "monstrous" individuals we might find in bars. I think you're right, the real monsters are found in restaurants!
All jesting aside, I think some of the most interesting conversations I have had outside of a Lodge, have been in bars and taverns. Often from those seeking meaning, absolution, or reprieve from their daily grind.
I find it interesting that many of our past Brethren met in taverns, where conversation, company and libations run freely... You are correct, we do need to offer something to the Brethren who come through our doors and find ways to be hospitable in accommodating the various forms of Masonry they seek.
We still have an advantage over here in UK with our local pubs although the economic situation is causing closures. They are the hub of the community and the beer is good.