In my dream, I flew into Philadelphia and we landed early, which was good because my flight was scheduled to land at 10:33 and our settlement conference was starting at 10:30.
-- This part of the dream is actually based in reality. I have another commitment on Sunday night this weekend, so I am taking the first flight to Philly on Monday, which leaves at 6 a.m., and lands at 10:33. That sounds good, but I actually need to be in Philly on Monday for a court setting at 10:30 (my defense counsel should be able to cover it and stall until I get there). It is no surprise I'm dreaming about this since I'm nervous and uncomfortable about being late for a setting, but it was really my only option given my personal Sunday night obligation that is a very high priority, and the judge has indicated I cannot appear by phone. I'm crossing my fingers that my flight really will land at least 15 minutes early so I'm not very late.
Back to the dream.
I got in a cab at the airport. The driver was male for the driving part of the dream and female for the end part of the dream. The airport was on the north side of the city (not true in reality) and the driver was taking me into Center City on some C-curve looking side street on the map on my phone that was west of the most direct route. This was fine because while taking the highway straight south was more direct, I could see on my phone there was lots of traffic on the highway, and the side streets he was taking definitely seemed faster. I was so happy the driver was getting me there quickly. The driver was telling me about some neighborhood we were going through and how it was initially mostly Polish immigrants, and I could see some of the signs had Eastern European type names. (100% dream, nothing I remember seeing in the dream was anything I remember from Philly, and I know of no such neighborhood there.) While taking this western curving route, the driver was still going toward where I needed to be. In the dream, I had a message from defense counsel telling me exactly what corner intersection was closest to the court's entrance.
-- In reality, just last week, I had a settlement conference in Philly that was at City Hall, which is a huge (and beautiful) building in the center of town, but only has one open entrance, with no big sign, kind of tucked in one of the many caverns alongside the building, which means a ton of walking in heels if you don't know which side of the building has that entrance. That hurt. So it makes sense that I would ask counsel where would be the best possible place for a cab to start when I know I'm going to be late. City Hall in Philly, as I saw it last week:
Back to the dream.
Our cab pulled up to the courthouse and then I realized the meter was off. The driver (female now) had a swipe credit card machine on the front seat that was showing a lot of gibberish (not true in reality, all Philly cabs have a thing on the partition where you swipe your own card). She asked if I could pay cash, and I said I couldn't because it was work travel, so I am required to use my corporate card, but also because I didn't have any money with me (both usually true in reality). Well, she got the credit card machine to work and she said the charge was $611 or $621 (I can't remember which). In reality, it's always $28.50 from the airport (south of the city) into Center City.
In the dream, I was trying to politely and hurriedly dispute the charge because I really liked the driver, and I'd been planning on giving him/her a $10 or $20 tip anyway for avoiding the traffic and getting me to court so fast. But I was saying that it had to go on my card, and it couldn't be more than $30 not counting tip, and that $600+ was not right.
In the dream, the driver ended up coming into the courthouse with me because we still hadn't figured out payment and I had to try to find which courtroom we were in. The dream courthouse was nothing like any courthouse in Philly or elsewhere that I know, I guess it kind of looked like I foggily think of Grand Central Station looking from movies and maybe 1-2 times I've been there. Anyway, in the dream, when we were trying to find the courtroom, I was really worried about how I was going to sort out the charge. And then I woke up to pee.
WTF?
What does that mean?
When a dream starts, does your subconscious already know where it's going to go and how it's going to end?
Why on earth would I dream about a $600 cab fare? Especially when it's work travel, and honestly, I've never had a charge get bounced, so if it really was a $600 cab fare, then it really was $600 and I probably could have put it through.
Am I worried about someone somewhere somehow trying to overcharge me? But what? No purchases come to mind, and I'm actually more flush right now than I have been in years probably thanks to a bonus that is presently sitting in my checking account (haven't spent it yet -- likely just doing boring things like IRA, extra mortgage payment, putting some in savings, etc., but right now, it's just there).
I guess that's my big question -- when I fell asleep and started dreaming about this upcoming trip, did my brain already know it was going to end with the $600 charge? Or do dreams just unfold as you go?
I suppose it's quite possible no one knows. But since I so rarely remember my dreams and this one was so bizarre, I figured I'd share.
You are brave cutting your schedule so close! That would kind of kill me. I guess you get used to taking risks when you do a lot of business travel (I don't).
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the $600 charge was just some ludicrous amount your brain generated to create the suspense of, "But my card charges can't go over 30!" Interesting how dreams are a combination of reasonable reality and complete crazy.
If it weren't a good friend's wedding Sunday night, there's no way I'd cut it so close -- but the last flight Sunday night is right in the middle of her ceremony, so I'm stuck with Monday morning. And my boss is at a conference, so there's no one else to handle it. Ugh!
DeleteI always feel that the more I can remember a dream, the more 'near awake' I am and can influence the branching - but some of it is just bizarre as you note. Things that make no sense - stuff from all over the place gets intertwined, and so on.
ReplyDeleteBut stress-related impacts on dreams can be amazing things - especially having to pee :) Our Corning facility was a primary site for Pyrex lab glass back in the 50s and 60s, and was almost shut down and donated to the local town when they decided to turn it into a 'scalable research facility'. So this year they have been re-doing the roof and some underground piping ... meaning there is just constant construction ... so in in one dream where I had to pee I ended up in a room with guys sitting right overhead on exposed beams actively working while I was on the only available toilet a few feet below ... yeah, that woke me up :)
Lol! That's hilarious!
DeleteI love hearing about people's dreams. I'd also love to know why we dream what we do. Most of mine have parts of reality and parts of complete nonsense in them.
ReplyDeleteDreams fascinate me. I rarely remember mine. Usually I have a vague sense of the dream and however it made me feel, but no details. My son loves to share his dreams although I think they become more stories of his wild imagination the longer he talks about it!!
ReplyDelete