What’s a good activity with a mix of adult ages?
February 6, 2022 6:02 PM Subscribe
I am 59. Most of the people I associate with outside of work are all older than I am. I would like to mix that up, and associate with, and possibly make friends with, people my age or younger. Do you have any suggestions?
My main activity is politics. Many of the political groups in my area tend to be mostly either people older than me or decades younger, not mixed ages.
My employer is a fully remote company, so I can’t really hang out with my colleagues.
After the pandemic is over, I am thinking of getting involved in community theater, or maybe a local film festival. Do those kinds of activities have a mix of ages, or do you have other suggestions? I have fairly broad interests.
My main activity is politics. Many of the political groups in my area tend to be mostly either people older than me or decades younger, not mixed ages.
My employer is a fully remote company, so I can’t really hang out with my colleagues.
After the pandemic is over, I am thinking of getting involved in community theater, or maybe a local film festival. Do those kinds of activities have a mix of ages, or do you have other suggestions? I have fairly broad interests.
I’ve been surprised by moving between states and discovering that something that was all-ages in one place was age-stratified in another. But possibly contra dancing?
posted by clew at 6:57 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by clew at 6:57 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Do you play an instrument or do you want to? I regularly get together with a group that goes from teens to 80s. It's the best thing.
posted by fritley at 7:00 PM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by fritley at 7:00 PM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Improv tends to have a nice mix of ages and is a very friendly community. If there's more than one improv theater/school in your city, it's worth researching a bit -- some theaters cater a bit more to bros in their 20s; others are more inclusive. My improv classes have had people ranging in age from 17 to 73 and we all partied together (before Covid).
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:02 PM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:02 PM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
If you’re interested in the SCA, at least in my area, there’s a range of participants from 17 to mid-60s; most of the fighters are between 30-50, but the scribes and costume makers are usually on the older end of the spectrum.
posted by tautological at 8:07 PM on February 6, 2022
posted by tautological at 8:07 PM on February 6, 2022
Social dance is good for this. I've met a lot of people of a range of ages out at the goth and '80s dance clubs where I am.
posted by limeonaire at 9:09 PM on February 6, 2022
posted by limeonaire at 9:09 PM on February 6, 2022
More formal dance (broadly-defined ballroom events, salsa classes, etc.) is another option, but the age range it will depend on where you are and who's leading the class or event.
It's very geeky, but model-building groups (motor-driven airplanes, rubber-band powered featherweight planes, racing cars) have been pretty age-diverse when I've seen friends participate. (Less so trains.) It's all be very white and male in the few US cities I've been, though. Also on the geeky side, very specific choral music groups seem to be surprisingly diverse in every dimension, especially early music. If it's of any interest, skeptics orgs are often pretty age diverse; less so in other ways.
My limited experience with mostly experimental/weird film festival folks is that the organizers and artists are often diverse, and the audience is mostly college students, 35 year old museum-goers, and retirees. More narrative feature-length film stuff might be very different.
posted by eotvos at 5:00 AM on February 7, 2022
It's very geeky, but model-building groups (motor-driven airplanes, rubber-band powered featherweight planes, racing cars) have been pretty age-diverse when I've seen friends participate. (Less so trains.) It's all be very white and male in the few US cities I've been, though. Also on the geeky side, very specific choral music groups seem to be surprisingly diverse in every dimension, especially early music. If it's of any interest, skeptics orgs are often pretty age diverse; less so in other ways.
My limited experience with mostly experimental/weird film festival folks is that the organizers and artists are often diverse, and the audience is mostly college students, 35 year old museum-goers, and retirees. More narrative feature-length film stuff might be very different.
posted by eotvos at 5:00 AM on February 7, 2022
Best answer: You could maybe look into martial arts, in particular aikido. I've been a member of aikido dojos with a wide range of ages.
posted by Leontine at 5:08 AM on February 7, 2022
posted by Leontine at 5:08 AM on February 7, 2022
Best answer: I don’t know if you have any interest at all in this area, but community theater groups and choirs that I’ve been in have all been heavily multigenerational.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:18 AM on February 7, 2022
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:18 AM on February 7, 2022
Seconding music or another regularly meeting class/practice - I haven't been since pre-pandemic, but the local recreational taiko classes had a huuuuge range of ages and people were definitely interested in making friends. I think it helped that there was an amateur performance group affiliated with the school so there was a stable community over time.
posted by bowtiesarecool at 11:22 AM on February 7, 2022
posted by bowtiesarecool at 11:22 AM on February 7, 2022
People in their 30s and 40s are often overwhelmed with career and/or dating or family stuff. If single, they’re often mobile (for career reasons). I met a bunch of great people in my 30s (they were around the same age) - within two years, literally all had married and/or gotten pregnant, or left town for better opportunities. If you do discover an activity, be prepared for these friendships to be fleeting :/
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:38 PM on February 7, 2022
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:38 PM on February 7, 2022
Response by poster: You've given me a good number of options to try! Thanks; I appreciate them all. I marked as "best answer" those I am more likely to try sooner.
posted by NotLost at 7:00 PM on February 8, 2022
posted by NotLost at 7:00 PM on February 8, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
Related, local food is pretty broad too. Going in from your political angle, if you get involved with organizations combatting food insecurity you interact with the whole spectrum of life, since every needs to eat and food insecurity affects all types of people. There’s also the possibility of a local restaurant scene or different foodie groups, but that tends to be kind of cliquey.
posted by Mizu at 6:46 PM on February 6, 2022