Sunday, March 09, 2008

How To Embrass Yourself In Public And Get Away With It

I received an email newsletter from Essendon Football Club late Friday night. Of course, I didn't notice the date as it was in my inbox early on Saturday morning. The newsletter article stated that "Tonight's practice match against West Coast at Subiaco is a crucial test for the Bombers in the lead up to Round 1". The email came to my inbox at 10:35pm on Friday. So, with good reason I expected that the match would be on Saturday evening.

We had tea and then I had to chase around after the boy who is like an old woman when you want to go somewhere. You have to tell him to go to the toilet, brush his teeth, put some warm clothes on, bring a hat, etc, although not simultaneously. Finally we got out the door and drove to the train station. As we climbed the stairs to the platform I noticed the train coming. My ticket was taken care of but I had to purchase a ticket for the boy. I heard the notification, "Doors closing" just before I grabbed the ticket out of the machine but we managed to get on before they closed on us. Lucky.

It turned out that we were even luckier as we had caught an express train and there were only four stops until we arrived in the city and had to change trains. Some guy even asked me, "Are you going to the footy?" which seemed rather stupid as we had our Essendon gear on. He also wanted to know who was playing.

Didn't have to wait too long and managed to get to the ground a couple of minutes before bouncedown. I was more than a little surprised by the lack of supporters at the ground. Normally for a game between the West Coast Eagles and Essendon there are thousands of crazy people in attendance. And there are usually lots of Essendon supporters also.

Nobody. The ground was deserted. The doors to the stadium at Subiaco Oval were open - not much to stop any would-be terrorists. We walked in to see what was happening. The sprinklers were on and the ground was set up for an upcoming rugby match. And here was the boy and myself kitted up in our club colours all by ourselves. What a prize dill I felt like.

At least we managed to get home on the same train ticket and didn't have to pay twice.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Better luck next time. I have been more embarassed. When I was 16 I asked a man for a Dr.Pecker drink by mistake ha ha Oh and I went to work 3 hours early because,I believed my boss so, they had a field day with that one. Annette

Susan Ham said...

You are getting like your father, missing his clearing sales by a day either way!!

Anonymous said...

Wouldn't expect anything less from an Essendon supporter :)

Hammy said...

Such cutting criticism, James. At least it was a match worth watching, unlike anything that Collingwood are involved with (unless of course they cop a hiding).

Nick Souter said...

you've corrupted your son into becoming an Essendon supporter! That's almost a criminal offense isn't it?! By the way, you moron (again!) going to the ground on the wrong day, that's just the kind of thing I would do (again!)