Come On Down! / Sartorial Disapprobation

Friday night

Dream 1: Come On Down!

I was in an auditorium, in the audience, waiting for a stage show to begin. I was there to see a variety show, performed by many of my coworkers. As I found a seat, I looked to my right, and saw some guys dressed in funny outfits; some of them were in drag. They were a bit embarrassed to be seen that way with the house lights up, but they wanted to sit in the audience to catch the early part of the show. They were to go on later.

The night's entertainment began with a one-man comedy routine, and it didn't go over well. In fact, he was lousy; so lousy that he decided to cut the jokes and turn his spot into some sort of game show segment. He brought out Deuce, a balding, gregarious black man, who appeared to be in his late 30s or early 40s. He was the first contestant. Deuce looked out into the audience and saw me, and to my surprise, he laid down a mock-boastful challenge. He called out, "You Better Come Down Here!" I did as he requested, and eagerly ran down the aisle that was to the left of the center section. Once I got on the stage, our host had two "machines" wheeled out from stage left (to the right of the audience). These machines were tall, thin, and seemed to be made of white porcelain. They resembled nothing more than early 20th century gas pumps, and were equipped with handles. They extended from the floor to the ceiling, and each had a window in the center that was about 8 inches square.

It was Deuce's turn to go first. He was to pull the lever on his machine and look in the window. There he would see a word puzzle; more accurately, he'd see several lines of letters. All he had to do was find a word in the seemingly random letters, and call it out. If he found one in the alloted time period, he was given a chance to find another word. If he failed, it would be my turn.

While Deuce was looking for his first word, I tried to get my machine to work, but it wouldn't. I found a coin slot on the right side, so I fished in my pocket and found a nickel. I dropped it in the slot, but nothing happened. Next, I found a dime; I put it in the machine, but got the same result. I looked even closer at my machine, and noticed very old coins at the bottom of the window, including a Morgan silver dollar. It was then that I realized that the machine required dollar coins. I found one in my pocket, put it in the slot, pulled the handle, and finally got my grid. It didn't matter. Deuce was so good at finding words, I wasn't going to get a turn any time soon.

Dream 2: Sartorial Disapprobation

I walked into a bookstore and was surprised to find an old high school- and poker tournament friend, Steve B., standing behind the counter. He was wearing a light-colored sport coat; it was either white or yellow. He appeared to be the manager on duty, and took his work seriously. I was wearing my customary comfortable clothes, including my jeans and a wool stocking cap that my wife recently knitted for me. I walked up and said, "Hey. How long have you been working here?" He replied, "As a matter of fact, I started on 9/11." He seemed to be looking at my hat, and I could tell that he didn't like it. He said, "Are you going to wear that [in here]? People DO care..." I said, "Gimme a break, Steve," and I walked out of the store. Once I got to the parking lot, I changed my mind. He wasn't going to get me to leave simply because he didn't dig my hat. I walked back in and found a computer which I used to start typing entries into my blog.

*****

Dream 1: Come On Down!

It occurs to me that I have many dreams that take place in theaters or auditoriums. I think that I became mesmerized by plays when I was quite young, and have always enjoyed the theater-going experience. Even school variety shows always knocked me out.

The "machines" in this dream appear to be more like one-armed bandits than gas pumps. Before long I'll be back in Virginia for Round 2 of this year's poker tournament, so gambling may have crossed my mind.

Deuce seems to be a very friendly fellow. I've only spoken with him briefly once or twice, but I've seen him in plenty of meetings, and have witnessed many challenges made between his group and other departments, goading each other toward sales goals, or to make money for charity. He seems to be a good-natured fellow.

Dream 2: Sartorial Disapprobation

Steve was a close friend for a long time, part of our regular high school gang, and took part in our poker tournament for 11 years (from 1988-1998). He stopped playing after that, for various reasons, and I haven't seen him since. It's strange that someone can be such a regular presence in your life for 15 or 20 years, and then they can be gone. It's strange to think that I haven't seen Steve in this century. Every so often I hear that that he might make an appearance at a gathering, but it never happens. We still get Christmas cards from the family. He has gray hair now. His hair was brown in the dream.