Classic Group Trip

I had what I might call the Classic Group Trip Dream last night (as opposed to all those dreams where being on a group trip is just one background fact among many). I was on a trip to India with some random dream people and some random real-life past and present acquaintances. We were crowded (very crowded!) into an older van with a dark red interior, going very slowly through some kind of border crossing or checkpoint. I was extremely uncomfortable because we were so crammed in, and I turned to the guy next to me, a rather prim Indian guy who was the de facto group leader and asked him if it would be okay if I put my feet up on the dash to give myself some more room. He was shocked--shocked!--that I would suggest such a thing, and said that he couldn't countenance it because the van belonged to a couple he knew. He then (possibly hoping to soften the blow of refusal?) added that the couple were originally from Mali but were now running a church in the U.S. for Indians. I responded enthusiastically that I was very interested in Mali, grasping at straws to both diffuse my apparent brazen disrespect for their dashboard and to distract myself from boredom and physical discomfort with the odd coincidence of West Africans running an Indian church in the U.S.

There was an unsettling subplot after that in which I was suddenly saddled with the responsibility of looking after several small children, who kept wandering away (I had to sternly warn one of them about the dangers of wandering off down an alley).

unsuitable boy toy

One thing I dreamed last night was that I had an iPhone. I liked it, but I felt a little bit silly thinking I was part of a Great Community of iPhone users. I think there was an iPhone users' club having a convention somewhere, although I wasn't part of it.

The other part of the dream started at the end of a story line that I can't remember at all. In the previous story line I had met a very young guy, a babyfaced black teenager. I think I had met him in a professional context, and was surprised when he kept hanging around. It was time for me to leave wherever it was that I had been, and he proposed that I give him a ride somewhere. There was a certain amount of waiting around in the car, but I can't remember whether I was waiting for him or he was waiting for me. After a while I realized that all along he had been asking me out on a date. That realization horrified me on several levels: he was way too young for me, and I wasn't attracted to him anyway; it had taken an embarassingly long time to realize what his intentions were; I had probably acted unprofessionally by accepting his invitation; I was now "leading him on", etc.. I tried to think of a way to extricate myself without creating an awkward situation, but couldn't, so I just kept thinking of lame excuses and things I had to stop and do, hoping that he would get bored and go on home by himself. It was pretty excruciating. Also, embarrassingly*, he was dabbling in very small-time drug dealing, and I knew I should try to dissuade him from it but wasn't sure how.

[I don't know what's up with these dreams wherein some unsuitable guy is pursuing me or I'm "supposed" to be dating him. It was kind of fun to be able to say this morning that I had dreamed I had a "boy toy", though.]

*embarrassing because it's so racial-profiling-y.

the obama family p.r. tour

I dreamed that President Obama had decided to move on from town meetings to garner support and had started a goodwill campaign with his family. He was randomly selecting families to visit with refreshments and little gifts, and we were one of the first selected (I was living with various members of my family in addition to my husband).

We had been told what time they would come by, but I had put off going to the bathroom and preparing myself, and consequently had to duck in right when I heard them arriving. It took me longer than I had expected, and I was moving really slowly, to the point that the Obama daughters started to need to use the bathroom. They started knocking on the door and asking why someone was in there so long, which was quite embarassing.

When I finally came out there was a very impressive spread on the table, consisting mostly of bottles and bottles of various types of wine and champagne, with a card in front of each of them saying what they were. Most of them seemed to come from the same company and were brushed aluminum bottles* with fancy "modern" designs on them. There was also a really pretty green glass champagne bottle with art nouveau white flowers painted on it. I didn't really know what else to say, so I commented on how pretty it was. Obama picked right up like a poised social whiz and made a return comment, leaving me impressed with his social skills and unimpressed with mine. The general effect of the wine exhibit was almost as if they were presenting a brand, and I suspected that the most-represented company had had good lobbyists to get their product in the p.r. roadshow.

I was a little confused about what my role in all this was, and slightly cowed, but blown away by the collective social graces of the Obama family. They were both extremely poised and personable in their chit-chat, Mr. in a more cool, off-hand way and Mrs. in a more warm, motherly way**; and their little girls were boisterous and running around, but not in an obnoxious way. Besides being a little ill at ease, I wasn't sure what to do with my other family members. My dad, who apparently loathed Obama, had hidden himself away somewhere and was refusing to come out until they were gone. And my grandmother, who I have never heard sing in real life, was wandering around singing and ignoring everything else going on around her.

I was relieved when they left, and wondered how long they were going to keep this campaign up, because it seemed like an awful lot of work on top of their regular schedules. I thought vaguely that the idea didn't seem very well thought-out, because it had been hinted that they would be visiting every family (sort of a variation on the Chicken in Every Pot), and I suspected that someone on their team was going to realize that they hadn't calculated how long that would take.


*Yes, wine in aluminum bottles. I'm sure that works well in real life.
**Yes, my dreams hew to sex-role stereotypes. I'd like to think it's just because I've been doing a Mad Men dvd marathon.