"I joined in 1978, but the group started meeting once a week back in the 1950’s. It was originally called the Prayer Meeting, but a few years ago we were renamed the R.O.M.E.O.s --- ‘Retired Old Men Eating Out.’"
"It’s not OLD men. It’s OLDER men. I don't know about you, but I'm not old!"
"Several people who were fairly prominent in the community were members at one time or another. We’re all retired. One of the things that happens when you retire is that you lose the camaraderie of people at work, so you need a new group. For us, that’s the R.O.M.E.O.s. And since we only see each other once a week, we like each other well. We’re down a little today; usually there are between 8 and 13 of us here. Humor, food, books, and storytelling are some of the things that hold us together. We watch out for each other too. We always say: If you die, somebody here will come and find your body. I remember when one of our members was no longer safe on his motorcycle --- he was about age 80 at the time --- so the group took his motorcycle away from him."
"Because the members come from a variety of professions and business backgrounds, they bring a lot to the table. Someone can always learn something every time we meet. There are two subjects that we try not to touch though: one is politics, and the other one is religion. We actually do touch on politics, but we do it very carefully. We let people express what they think, but then we don’t answer them."
"You forgot about sex. We don’t talk about that either."
"Nope, 'cause it’s only a distant memory." [*laughter*]
L-R: Max, George, David, Billy, Carroll, Greg
"It’s not OLD men. It’s OLDER men. I don't know about you, but I'm not old!"
"Several people who were fairly prominent in the community were members at one time or another. We’re all retired. One of the things that happens when you retire is that you lose the camaraderie of people at work, so you need a new group. For us, that’s the R.O.M.E.O.s. And since we only see each other once a week, we like each other well. We’re down a little today; usually there are between 8 and 13 of us here. Humor, food, books, and storytelling are some of the things that hold us together. We watch out for each other too. We always say: If you die, somebody here will come and find your body. I remember when one of our members was no longer safe on his motorcycle --- he was about age 80 at the time --- so the group took his motorcycle away from him."
"Because the members come from a variety of professions and business backgrounds, they bring a lot to the table. Someone can always learn something every time we meet. There are two subjects that we try not to touch though: one is politics, and the other one is religion. We actually do touch on politics, but we do it very carefully. We let people express what they think, but then we don’t answer them."
"You forgot about sex. We don’t talk about that either."
"Nope, 'cause it’s only a distant memory." [*laughter*]
L-R: Max, George, David, Billy, Carroll, Greg
The R.O.M.E.O.s meet every Wednesday at 11:30am at Caritas Village, 2509 Harvard.
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