When Falls the Coliseum

Old/Elderly

Posted on October 7th, 2009 by Fred Siegel

July 17, 2009
I dream I’m on the way to my apartment in New York and a small group of elderly Jewish people are stopped on the street. They see me going up to the door of my building and ask if they can come in to use the bathroom. I check with Gail and she agrees to let them in. When they get into my apartment they make themselves at home. In fact, they start cooking and eating and hanging around and playing the soundtrack of the movie The Producers. I’m a little put off. Then, people start arriving for a show, a series of comic pantomimes performed in my apartment. Elderly Jews enjoy comedy.

November 12, 2008
I dream I go back to Temple University to take a course even though I already have my Ph.D. There is a cluster of classrooms and the one I go to has beautiful wood furniture. Nevertheless, there is a lot of confusion. People are taking different courses in the same room and an old male instructor leaves after a few minutes and a younger woman instructor comes back to deal with the confusion. She sits in a seat in my classroom and begins conducting a class. She asks a question about disciplinary boundaries and I answer with a statement about cutting up a pie. She can tell from my answer that I am not an undergraduate. She guesses, correctly, that I have a doctorate in performance studies. Meanwhile, the old male professor walks down the street and is hit by a car. He is fine; the car is totaled.

June 26, 1999
I dream I am attending a wedding in Northeast Philly. I don’t have a car and I park my bike at a nearby gas station. Then, instead of going to the wedding right away, I search the neighborhood for snacks. I can’t find any chocolate milk or Skybars, and when I go back to the gas station my bike is not there and the garage is closed. I start walking and see some elderly neighbors who are wearing suits. I ask how they are. They reply, “You’re always asking us to tell you jokes.” Then, they talk about their diets and exercise equipment. I wish them well and head back to the gas station in case someone left a note or something.

Fred’s Dreams is published every Wednesday.