By real world, I don't mean I went out to a store and spent my Steem, though I would be thrilled to discover any retailers in my area or even in the entire province of Ontario that accept Steem. No, when I say real, I mean that I spend Steem on a tangable, physical product.
This is the first time I've ever done that. I've often traded my Steem/SBD for Bitcoin or Litecoin to use with online retailers that accept only the most popular cryptocurrencies, but I've never spent my Steem directly on a product.
Until Now!
Soon I will be the proud owner of my very own Steem Silver Round.
You can preorder the 2018 silver pieces from 
Why Does This Matter?
A big part of escaping the tyranny of government and fiat currency is to begin treating this funny internet money as real currency.
Yea, yea, I'm making a big deal over nothing, you say. You may be partially right.
I doubt the man will be quaking in his boots because I bought a silver coin valued at $23 of his dollars while circumventing his system and currency completely. But it's a small step in the right direction. If the culture and economy continues to shift in this direction, it won't take long for government to lose most of its power.
These are exciting times.