Sitting in a New York City bar in 1988, Grover Click and three friends had a startling revelation: they were, in their own words, dull. While flipping through a magazine featuring people engaged in exciting activities like fencing and wrestling, one of the men blurted out, “Hey, we don’t do any of these things — we’re kind of dull.” Click, now 85, recalled, “I had to agree.”

Thus, the Dull Men’s Club was born—initially as a joke. Click suggested they create a club for “dull men,” and the group leaned into the concept with gusto. Their early exploits included racing elevators at Macy’s to see which was fastest and discussing topics like tire pressure. The group even secured a meeting room with exactly 17 chairs for its 17 members.

When someone suggested inviting women to join, the idea was swiftly dismissed. “They weren’t as dull as we were,” Click joked. Fast-forward nearly four decades, and what began as a whimsical idea has transformed into an international community. Today, the Dull Men’s Club boasts over 1.5 million members who share their mundane adventures on social media and the club’s website. “People post about their milk bottle collections, how they take out their trash, what kind of potholes they’ve observed,” Click said.

I eat a chicken kebab about four or five times a week, and I like to take photos of those. It all works.”

The club’s Facebook group is a treasure trove of uneventful yet oddly captivating posts. Members share photos of bananas for scale, hands doing nothing in particular, and other banal observations. One recent post documented an oven temperature discrepancy, sparking a lively debate among members. Another showcased the end shaving of a pepperoni, delighting 52 members.

Despite its self-deprecating premise, the club has a surprisingly broad appeal. Barbara Hartsfield, a 78-year-old nurse from Atlanta, proudly featured in the club’s 2022 calendar with her collection of 3,000 miniature chairs. “I actually don’t consider myself dull — I prefer the term ‘intriguing,’” she said. Hartsfield praises Click’s enthusiasm for celebrating life’s quieter moments.

Grover is such a character — I love his energy and excitement in looking for new things to tell people about, whether they’re dull or not,” she said.

Click’s own dull adventures include participating in pea-throwing contests in the U.K. and penning a book about the “Dull Men of Great Britain.” He’s even coined a term for members: “dullsters.” As he explains, “Dullster is the perfect word. It’s the opposite of hipster.”

For Click, the club’s growth has been both baffling and delightful. “Whoever thought that watching elevators at Macy’s would lead to all of this?” he mused. From milk bottle collections to pothole photography, the Dull Men’s Club is a testament to finding joy in the mundane. And as Click points out, “If you’re thinking you’d be a good member of the Dull Men’s Club, then you’re probably already a member.”

Source: Washington Post