Hot dogs, meat pies, jam doughnuts and beer

That was the food and drink being consumed around me as I spent my first wintery Saturday watching Richmond play Carlton at the MCG. What was great about a day out at the footy, apart from the thrilling 4th quarter, was the opportunity to people watch.

This was the first time in a while I’d sat in general seating at the MCG and we ended up in the nose bleed section surrounded by real footy fans. Die hard fans that had lined up for hours before the game to make sure they got a seat.

From listening and observing between the cheers and the jeers, they’d come on the train from the outer suburbs which probably cost them $10 or more. The pies were $4 and beers were $5 and tickets into the game were $20. An expensive day out for an average family of four! They mostly wore trackies and proudly displayed their teams’ jersey or scarf. Some looked worn from life, and some had come to the freezing cold ground without enough clothing to keep them warm – now that’s commitment.

I don’t mean to sounds like a total snob, but it dawned on me that I don’t often spend time with what we call middle Australia, so I’d forgotten who they are, what they’re about and what they do for fun.

So, the purpose of this post is pretty simple: We so often think about the audiences we’re trying to reach as someone like us, someone we know, a family member, a friend. But middle Australia isn’t many of ‘us’. They are these guys that were at the footy.

So I highly recommend you turn down that invitation to the corporate box, go get yourself a general admission ticket and spend time with some real folks!

Oh and for the record I had a jam doughnut and washed it down with a beer too, delicious.