Every month at Tough Guy Book Club, we set ourselves a challenge.
Not just the challenge of getting a bunch of men to read a piece of fiction, which is hard enough. We're talking about meaningful, worthwhile shit you can do with your free time. Make a new friend, catch up with an old one, visit your local library, get your blood pressure or cholesterol checked, or just show off the interesting hobbies you get up to when you're not reading.
Challenges are fun! They get you out of your stretchy house pants, out of your comfort zone, and in some cases they might score you some sweet new meds and literally save your life. There's plenty of reasons to do them all, but now, there's added incentive.
Ever heard of a Challenge Coin? Basically it's the tradition of carrying a special medallion to signify that you're part of something cool and important. You flash your coin at a party, someone else flashes theirs, and suddenly the two of you have a special bond and a warm fuzzy feeling of belonging. They've been proudly used throughout history by the military, police departments, high-ranking government officials... and now, Tough Guy Book Club. It's all part of our plan to become a secret society hellbent on world domination hahaha
Shh. Don't tell anybody.
So, all our goons who get their challenges in every month are in the running for the Challenge Coin. But we know life gets busy, especially when there's a pandemic on. What if you don't make it to the doctor, or forget to show us a picture of your veggie garden?
Never fear, we said. This month was all about #Lastchances. The challenge was to catch up on the challenges you've missed.
That means we had a jumble of photos and stories on our FB page. Goons stampeding to their GP or library, goons slapping up TGBC stickers all over the place, goons demonstrating their skills in baking or surfing or fixing engines. If you know anything about how we read books, you know we're pretty good at doing our homework at the very last minute. Of course there were the 20 smug bastards whose challenges were up to date, who got to post a dumb gif in the Pool Hall and take the month off, but we won't talk about them.
If you're new to the club and you missed both your first and last chance at a challenge, don't worry. You might be out of the running this year, but stick around for a few books and you can start fresh on the Challenge Coin for 2022.
In the meantime, you don't need a medallion to get that warm fuzzy feeling of belonging. Just turn up to the pub first Wednesday of the month.
See you there.
