Tuesday, October 26, 2010

"All That We See or Seem is but a Dream Within a Dream" Edgar Allan Poe

I think my subconscious was trying to teach me a lesson the other day. At work I went to the break room for my lunch. A brief word about our break room and then I'll continue. Our break room is about the size of a walk-in closet, it is filthy and ant infested, and they shove spare furnishings and shelf fixtures in there so we have even less room. There is no sink to wash our hands and we are not allowed a refrigerator to keep our food in because they say corporate said if we had one it would encourage theft. We are however allowed one old microwave and we also have a bulletin board with a notice warning us to never attempt to gather and form a union.

Now back to the story, I entered the break room and it was already crowded with a few people from other departments. I took a seat and pulled my book and my sandwich out of my bag and proceeded to grumble silently in my head as they continued with their loud conversations. Usually I look forward to as quiet a break as possible to unwind a bit from the sales floor with the constant beeping of the machines, the piped in music, and the cacophony of conversation. I ignored them as best as possible and read a bit of my book. There was one woman who spoke loudly and excitedly about her life and two others kept asking her questions. I ate my lunch quietly and then left, end of story or so I thought.

The next morning I woke from a dream. In this dream the woman I sat near during lunch and I shared a ride to a class our company was sponsoring. We drove in her SUV to an elementary school in the evening. They had rented rooms after hours at the school to hold their classes. We left the class (I can't remember what it was about.) and we were driving home when it started to snow and we had to go very slow. That's about it, I woke up and wondered why I had that very odd dream. I thought about it all day. I hate having work dreams, because the work I do now isn't particularly pleasant but it brings in a much needed paycheck. I go to work collect my pay and come home and don't like to think of work all the time. It bothers me a bit when it invades my dreams.

A day later I figured the dream actually had meaning. I was ignoring my fellow humans at lunch and seeking my solitude in a book. I should have joined in and reached out instead of always being so reclusive. What about you? Has your subconscious ever taught you a lesson?

3 comments:

  1. I worked at a grocery store in college and we had the exact same break room! ugh!

    It's very perceptive of you to interpret your dream and so good that you are open to the interpretation. I can SO relate to this because I am somewhat of an introvert and it would drive me totally bonkers to have to listen to those people talk at lunch when I just wanted to read my book! Yes, I need to reach out and be more kind to people. I'm trying to make an effort at the gym where people want to talk their heads off and I just want to be left alone to exercise in peace. My husband bought me an MP3 player so I can tune them out. I'm trying, though, to grin and bear it.

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  2. Carrie, I guess they found a design they liked and stuck with it.

    Also, I am one of three employees in the entire store that brings a book to lunch. I would have a rough time in your gym trying to prop my book up against the equipment while I worked out. :)

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  3. I love reading, but that`s one of the reasons I go to work - for the human contact. I wonder if you did reach out, you might possibly enjoy work a bit more. Or maybe less. :-)

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