Strange Days
It's shaping up to be an odd day.
It started with the fact that I had a dream this morning, one that I could actually remember. (On average, I think I remember about one dream per year, if that. As far as my conscious mind is concerned, I rarely dream.) Said dream was more like the plot for a movie or novel than it was like an ordinary dream--from what I can recall, there had been some kind of worldwide catastrophic event that involved a widespread blackout and assorted unnatural, sci-fi-ish phenomena that were eroding civilization and isolating us all in our homes as people panicked.
(...Yeah, I know. Why can't I ever dream about sexy men wanting to be in my harem, or something like that?)
How the situation was resolved I have no idea, because the phone rang and woke me up right in the middle of the dream. This was bad, because while I ordinarily have no transitory stage between sleep and wakefulness (I'm either fully awake or fully asleep), waking up before the dream finished left me feeling groggy and dim and desperately in need of a caffeine infusion to clear up the fog in my head.
A pot of coffee made me slightly less of a zombie, but the oddness followed me out of the house on my errands. I had to stop at two different bookshops (because the first didn't have what I wanted). At the first, I was just walking into the store, one person in a crowd, minding my own business, when out of the blue, the man behind the help desk grins right at me and says "Hello! Nice day, isn't it?"
ME: ~looks around to see if he's talking to somebody else~ Uh... Yes? It's... okay, I guess. Very nice. Crisp.
MAN BEHIND HELP DESK: ~grins again and proceeds to outline the entire plot to the fantasy novel he's apparently writing, all in excruciating detail.~
ME: ~nods politely, wondering why I was singled out for this honor~
After extricating myself from that baffling conversation and discovering that the shop didn't even have what I wanted, I proceeded to the second bookshop, where I found my books with a minimum of hassle and was not accosted by any men behind the help desk. However, as I was walking out the door, another customer was coming in. He stares at me for a moment, wide-eyed, and then he smiles and backs up so he can make a big deal about opening the door for me.
MAN HOLDING DOOR: Hello! Have a very nice day!
ME: ~looks down at sweater to be sure there are no visible stains or breasts accidentally hanging out or anything~ ...Thank you? Um, same to you!
MAN HOLDING DOOR: ~smiles and waves~
ME: ~wonders if I know this man, or he's as much a stranger as he looks~
And then, to top it off, I stopped at the grocery store on the way home because I'm running low on tea. I found the tea and picked it up without incident, but then there was yet ANOTHER odd guy ringing up my order. (Note: odd guys are not in and of themselves unexpected here, because the store is staffed and frequented mainly by University people, but the odd kids don't usually go out of their way to speak to me.)
ODD GUY: ~examines tea tin~ So... you like tea, huh?
ME: ~resists urge to say "No, I just liked the pretty tin."~ Yes, I like tea. That's why I'm buying some.
ODD GUY: ~smiles at me~ So hey, what's your area of study? I bet you're in English. You like English?
ME: ~confused~ ...Yes.
ODD GUY: English is cool. It's very... boisterous.
ME: ??????
ODD GUY: I don't really know what that word means, but it fits, huh? All that reading books and stuff. I don't read that much, except for... ~proceeds to tell me about the last five fantasy novels he read~
ME: ~wonders if maybe I should introduce this guy to the one behind the help desk at the book store~
I'm not imagining the oddness of this, right? It is strange, no? ~shakes head~ Given that it's only lunchtime, I can't imagine what oddities the rest of the day will have in store.
It started with the fact that I had a dream this morning, one that I could actually remember. (On average, I think I remember about one dream per year, if that. As far as my conscious mind is concerned, I rarely dream.) Said dream was more like the plot for a movie or novel than it was like an ordinary dream--from what I can recall, there had been some kind of worldwide catastrophic event that involved a widespread blackout and assorted unnatural, sci-fi-ish phenomena that were eroding civilization and isolating us all in our homes as people panicked.
(...Yeah, I know. Why can't I ever dream about sexy men wanting to be in my harem, or something like that?)
How the situation was resolved I have no idea, because the phone rang and woke me up right in the middle of the dream. This was bad, because while I ordinarily have no transitory stage between sleep and wakefulness (I'm either fully awake or fully asleep), waking up before the dream finished left me feeling groggy and dim and desperately in need of a caffeine infusion to clear up the fog in my head.
A pot of coffee made me slightly less of a zombie, but the oddness followed me out of the house on my errands. I had to stop at two different bookshops (because the first didn't have what I wanted). At the first, I was just walking into the store, one person in a crowd, minding my own business, when out of the blue, the man behind the help desk grins right at me and says "Hello! Nice day, isn't it?"
ME: ~looks around to see if he's talking to somebody else~ Uh... Yes? It's... okay, I guess. Very nice. Crisp.
MAN BEHIND HELP DESK: ~grins again and proceeds to outline the entire plot to the fantasy novel he's apparently writing, all in excruciating detail.~
ME: ~nods politely, wondering why I was singled out for this honor~
After extricating myself from that baffling conversation and discovering that the shop didn't even have what I wanted, I proceeded to the second bookshop, where I found my books with a minimum of hassle and was not accosted by any men behind the help desk. However, as I was walking out the door, another customer was coming in. He stares at me for a moment, wide-eyed, and then he smiles and backs up so he can make a big deal about opening the door for me.
MAN HOLDING DOOR: Hello! Have a very nice day!
ME: ~looks down at sweater to be sure there are no visible stains or breasts accidentally hanging out or anything~ ...Thank you? Um, same to you!
MAN HOLDING DOOR: ~smiles and waves~
ME: ~wonders if I know this man, or he's as much a stranger as he looks~
And then, to top it off, I stopped at the grocery store on the way home because I'm running low on tea. I found the tea and picked it up without incident, but then there was yet ANOTHER odd guy ringing up my order. (Note: odd guys are not in and of themselves unexpected here, because the store is staffed and frequented mainly by University people, but the odd kids don't usually go out of their way to speak to me.)
ODD GUY: ~examines tea tin~ So... you like tea, huh?
ME: ~resists urge to say "No, I just liked the pretty tin."~ Yes, I like tea. That's why I'm buying some.
ODD GUY: ~smiles at me~ So hey, what's your area of study? I bet you're in English. You like English?
ME: ~confused~ ...Yes.
ODD GUY: English is cool. It's very... boisterous.
ME: ??????
ODD GUY: I don't really know what that word means, but it fits, huh? All that reading books and stuff. I don't read that much, except for... ~proceeds to tell me about the last five fantasy novels he read~
ME: ~wonders if maybe I should introduce this guy to the one behind the help desk at the book store~
I'm not imagining the oddness of this, right? It is strange, no? ~shakes head~ Given that it's only lunchtime, I can't imagine what oddities the rest of the day will have in store.