Give It Up
Extra-late-middle-aged man
in a baby blue sweater
the atmosphere was friendly
in a fake kind of way
fantasies of success and lots of money
gone with retirement
replaced by
whole lot of posturing
on the tennis court
and bragging about lifting weights
at the gym
1/18/18
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
Ah yes. I know all too well that atmosphere of “friendly / in a fake kind of way”. I have a finely-tuned radar for such things and always find it unsettling.
I started thinking about this particular iteration of the type when my husband commented on men of a certain age at the gym and how they use their athletic accomplishments to fill in what they used to get from work (I say accomplishments, there is a whole lot of bragging and delusion going on just like at work) and fake friendly is so much part of this persona, I think.