Well, that was all kinds of fucked up. Story time.

[LuckyCharms]

I had some IV anesthesia the other day for cataract surgery. I also received some IV fentanyl during the procedure for an unrelated back problem in order to keep me still during the surgery. I don't know if what happened to me this morning was related to this, or if I'm just generally losing my mind, but here's what happened...

About 30-35 years ago, I worked a white collar, deadline driven job as an exempt (think "management" ) employee. I don't know how things are today, but back then, exempt ( vs. "hourly" ) employees could pretty much be worked to death. I won't get into the details of this job, but as I stated, it was very deadline driven, and you as an employee were being paid to do "whatever it takes" to meet the deadlines and complete the job. As a result, I had to work some ungodly hours in a row. I would tell you the number of hours I had to work straight without sleep, but you won't believe me, so I'll leave it at that. Suffice to say that the whole experience was permanently life changing.

I was sleeping soundly this morning at 500AM, when I woke up having to urinate. I got up, used the bathroom, and then went back to sleep.

When I fell back to sleep, I started having this very long dream. Only I didn't know it was a dream, I thought I was awake.

I was working at that old job, and I was tired, wiped out, burned out, stressed...and I told myself "Fuck it, I'm not going in today". I have a strong work ethic, so now I'm debating with myself whether I should go into work or not. For what seemed like a very long time, in this dream, I was feeling very guilty for even considering calling in sick. "Someone else can finish the fucking thing, I'm calling in sick". "No, you can't call in sick, you have to finish it". So I'm going back and forth in this dream, which I thought was real, on whether I should call in sick.

Then in the dream, I decided to call in sick, but I didn't know who to call in to. I didn't know who my boss was. Then I thought, I'll just call into the guy that sits in the next cubicle and have him figure out who to tell that I'm not coming in today. But back then, voicemail was just becoming a thing, and I tried to call this guy, and I fucked it up because I couldn't figure out how to use the voicemail. I forgot how to use it.

So in this dream, I said "Fuck it, I better go in". But I was running late, and I didn't have time to take a shower. So I told myself "It's OK, you took a shower last night. Just brush your teeth, put your shirt and tie on, and go into work".

Then, I WOKE UP, still thinking I had to go into work.

FOR A GOOD TEN MINUTES, I'm wandering around aimlessly looking for this pair of pants that I used to wear. And I'm looking for my dress shirt, and a particular tie.

I'm literally standing in my closet, wondering why everything looked different. WHERE THE FUCK ARE MY PANTS??? I started to have extreme anxiety, because I couldn't find any of my clothes.

Finally, after about 10 minutes of rooting around in my closet, it hit me.

"You dumb fuck, you don't work there anymore".

It was very unsettling.

THE END

[highplainsdem]

1. LuckyCharms, you were sleepwalking. Sleepwalkers can sometimes recall what they did. See this

article:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/257700

As for that dream, it was a stress dream. A dream where you have to do something you've done in the past, but this time you're not up to it, or not prepared.

One of the more common variations involves school - having a test or an assignment you completely forgot, which you can't get out of.

[LuckyCharms]

5. I believe that is right.

I can think of two other situations that happened to me before:

1) University finals week. Woke up in the middle of the night, walked into the bathroom, lifted the lid on the clothes hamper, urinated into the hamper, went back to sleep.

2) The "Fred MacMurray dream". This one has happened to me a few times. Sign up to take a class at university. Forget I signed up for it until the end of the class was a week away. Go to see the professor to beg him to let me do something to complete the class. The professor turns out to be Fred MacMurray of "My Three Sons" fame. He's not having any of my excuses, and I always wake up in a standing position arguing with Fred MacMurray, who is no longer visible.

[highplainsdem]

9. Glad I could reassure you!

How funny, that Fred MacMurray was in your dreams.

[lastlib]

2. Yeah, you're losing your mind, Lucky.

Stick a fork in ya, you're done.

(Just tryin' to cheer you up, my friend! is it working? )

Glad you didn't go in to work sans pants, tho! (for a couple reasons!)

Seriously, though, I hope it was just a BRIEF after-effect of the drugs.

[LuckyCharms]

6. That's what I get for trying to wear pants.

[lastlib]

7. ESPECIALLY in the Lounge! n/t

[Harker]

12. Interesting that you recently mentioned no longer wearing pants as life benefit going forward.

You also posted a photo of your pants drying on a clothesline.

Have you a deep seated issue with trousers? Were your pockets turned out by someone? Were you belted and cuffed for hemming and hawing?

[Nittersing]

3. Ack! What a horrible way to start the day!

I retired about 5 years ago, but I could feel the stress of those early morning starts.

One time, years ago, I woke up at six and called our dispatcher in a panic and said I just woke up and I'd be there as fast as I could... only to be laughed at and told it was 6pm and not 6am.

Hope you're feeling a little more normal now.

[Marthe48]

4. It was an anxiety dream

and maybe the anesthetic and fentanyl enhanced your dream state. I've woken from dreams that were so vivid I thought the details were part of my reality. But it didn't take quite so long to snap out of it. I've also awakened from dreams that put me in a bad mood. I had a dream fight with my husband, and after I woke up, I didn't want to talk to him most of the morning. My friend had anxiety dreams set in her work place. She was finally able to realize in her dream that in reality, she was retired, and defused the dream, at least that night.

Keep an eye on yourself, and stay safe, like no ladders or driving.

[Raven]

8. You took a "stress dream" to a new level! People who have been in high stress jobs have them. I have

been retired for 22 years and I have them one once and a while. Mine always involves me getting lost in Boston and not being able to find my way to the office. Once or twice, I have gotten up and started to get dressed to go to work before I realized that I was free of all of that. You can let that dream worry you (which it shouldn't) or you can rejoice in the face that you're free of all of that now.

[modrepub]

10. Why Is It We Alway Dream of Uncomfortable Times In Our Lives?

Have had similar types of dreams that leave me anxious and confused. Though I woke up from a short nap yesterday not knowing where I was, what time it was or if I had to get up and do something immediately.

Why can't we have dreams where we re-experience something joyful in our lives? Like first time we met our significant other, a great vacation or place? Maybe one day someone will come up with a way to bend our dreams to relive good times in our lives or more pleasant experiences.

[EYESORE 9001]

11. I dreamed about a place while I worked there

The details changed, but the theme remained the same. I would be seeking information for the task at hand, but I always needed to find out something else first, which would lead farther down a trail of frustration and confusion. Those dreams disappeared after leaving that job, and I hate to consider the possibility that the dreams could return.

[Niagara]

13. Pain killers can result in weird and lucid dreams

Carry on and only wear pants if you want to, in your dreams or during waking hours.


Have a pant-tastic day, Lucky! 👖

[NNadir]

14. Well, I guess I'm lucky. When I dream of the past...

...I generally dream about my wife before she was my wife and the times that rolling in the hay thing with her was new and exciting instead of just good old fashioned - emphasis on old - fun. There is a difference, not entirely bad but not entirely good either.

Of course these happy dreams don't involve rooting around anywhere. If it did, she'd ask me what the hell am I doing up and why don't I go back to sleep.

By the way I've worked at those "management" jobs for so long, I forgot what "normal" hours might be, and I'm afraid to be without my cell phone. I sometimes think of retiring but I'm kind of afraid of doing so, especially with a nutty government in place.

[LudwigPastorius]

15. I had a good propofol/fentanyl cocktail for some oral surgery a while back.

The next day, someone called me to ask me to work on a specific date. At least, that's what he told me when I didn't show up a couple of weeks later.

He said I seemed perfectly lucid and carried on a 5 minute conversation with him on the phone. I didn't remember any of it.

That stuff can do some funny things, even after it has supposedly 'worn off' the next day.