Stress Dream

In the dream I'm visiting my dad, whose apartment looks just like my grandmother's house. There's a knock on the door and my dad greets a man and woman. They come in and chat for a while and I realize that my dad has no idea who these people are. But this isn't unusual because my dad is really bad about remembering people's names. Now there are two young children with them and they're all sitting on couches. I'm separated from the group, sitting on the floor with their dog, a friendly Doberman who is tugging at a button on my shirt. I say "No", but the dog keeps pulling and the button stretches unbelievably far without snapping off. The children are watching from the couch and laughing in a way that embarrasses me. I say "No" more firmly and the dog lets go. I pet the dog’s head but it doesn't look pleased, and I wonder if it might suddenly bite me.

Meanwhile, the adults are having a very superficial conversation and it becomes clear that the visitors don't know my dad, either. I want to find out why they're here, so I join them and ask a few casual questions, hoping to piece together some information. They end up saying that our mutual friend Dan invited them here for a slide show. Of course, that makes perfect sense, except that the slide show is next weekend. They look so disappointed and say they drove all the way from Castro Valley. I tell them I'll ask Dan if he invited any guests from Hayward who might want to carpool with them next week. But they still aren't leaving. I look at the clock and now I have only an hour left to shop for groceries and make stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner at Dan and Becky’s. As they continue talking I become more and more frustrated, and I start to cry and complain that I don't have enough time to shop and cook for dinner. I don't even have a recipe for the stuffing I'm supposed to make. My dad reaches for a cookbook that happens to be on a bookshelf next to where he's seated. I take the cookbook with one hand while blowing my nose with the other. 

Now I'm in the living room of an apartment with D. The walls are painted white and the carpeting is white, and it's clean and completely empty except for the couch on which we're sitting. We're facing the front door, which is wide open. The apartment isn't ours but we are comfortable and no one else seems to be living here. An elderly woman walks through the door. She is about five feet tall with short white hair and is dressed conservatively but nicely, as if she's going out to dinner. She is followed by two middle aged women. One is wearing a short maroon chiffon dress with sparkly gold ribbon around the flared hem. She is wearing a tiara, and I think I see wings on her back like those from a fairy costume. They walk right past us without any acknowledgment. I ask the older woman, "May I help you?" She says she's here for the slide show. With a sick feeling I tell her that Dan must have given everyone the wrong date. She replies with a smirk, "So he's emasculating the Jews." [Editor's note: WTF?] I don't know what she means by this, but I look at the three women in the room and wonder if they are Jewish. 

Still sitting on the couch, D and I watch as more and more people stream through the open door. Soon we are surrounded by a sea of people, so thick we can't even see through the crowd. They are all happy and talking loudly to each other, but we don't know any of them and it's as if we aren't there. D tries to call Dan to clear things up, but Dan doesn't answer. This isn't surprising because he's probably busy hosting Thanksgiving at his house. I have an open book on my lap and have been pretending to read but haven't read a word. Now I am really nervous and hiss at D, "We don't have any food or drinks or anything to serve these people!" But D just calmly says, "Don't think like that." And the crowd continues to swarm.