Mall Mugging

Date Dreamed: 2014-02-03

Dream

I’m heading home from school, and I’m running because running is cool. The people I pass give me weird looks, but I ignore them and keep going. I get to the mall and start running around the side of the building. I get some vague memories of what may have been an earlier dream that took place inside the mall, but nothing specific. At the back of the mall I pass Rueben and a couple other skaters. They ask me to stop, and when I do they try to mug me. Rueben stands behind me with a knife, the leader (who I don’t recognize but is faintly familiar) holds a knife in front of me, and the third kid stands a short distance away with a gun. They ask for my wallet and I hand it to the leader. I trust Rueben not to stab me in the back and I doubt the other kid will use the gun, so when he is distracted by my wallet I grab the leader’s knife. I cut a big slash out of the front of his jacket to let him know I’m serious. He gives back my wallet, and then tries to give me his wallet. I don’t want it and it falls on the ground. The muggers start to run away and I throw the knife on the ground and run the other direction. The leader picks up his knife and I’m worried that he is going to come after me again but he does a butterfly knife trick to close it and follows his friends. I wonder if he is going to retrieve his wallet, but he leaves without it. I overhear Rueben comment that they shouldn’t mug people on Mondays anymore because they always resist. He theorizes that people are more likely to have a death wish on Mondays.

Context Explanations

Rueben was a skater in high school, but he wasn’t the kind of kid who would mug people. He was actually a really nice guy.

Plot Holes

A mall parking lot in broad daylight seems like a bad place to mug people.

Erection?

Vigilantely Yes

Analysis

The beginning part where I'm running is because I've always though it would be cool to run everywhere I go. I’ve never done it because people generally get suspicious when you run for no obvious reason, but I didn’t care about that in the dream, which was cool. The mugging is probably an extension of the brief jolt of fear I get whenever someone I don’t recognize stops me on the street. If I don’t understand why someone wants to talk to me I often assume the worst. I live in South Dakota, so mugging isn’t really what I’m afraid of, but I do assume less violent forms of confrontation. At the very least, conversations will lead to social awkwardness, so I have plenty of negative reinforcement in that area. I feel a little guilty that my dream propagates the stereotype that people who skateboard are criminals but the joke about Mondays sort of makes up for it.

Auguries

Standing up for myself or behaving boldly can turn a bad situation into a good.