Dream Log: Boss in a University Cafeteria

I dreamed I was in line in a university cafeteria. In front of me were two women, one of whom was verbally abusing the other and shoving her around. The woman being verbally abused was wearing a sleeveless dress. Bruises and cuts on her arms and legs suggested that she might be suffering physical as well as verbal abuse.

I intervened in a manner which is not entirely clear. I started by yelling things like, "Hey, look at this, people. This is not right." I don't remember what happened next until the abusing woman was gone. Then the cafeteria was closing, so I grabbed some sandwiches in plastic wrap and stuffed them into the pockets of my jacket.

Then I was in the cafeteria with the previously-abused woman, and she was telling me that I should start a business. I didn't feel especially qualified to do this, but I figured I might as well give it a try. Soon I had about a dozen employees, all women.

I don't know exactly what our business did, but we did it in the cafeteria. Maybe we were remodeling it. I remember that we did things which changed the appearance of some sections of the cafeteria's walls. All I did was to say slogans to my employees, things which sounded to me like things said by people with MBA's. To my great surprise, this and this alone made me function well as a business owner and boss, and the business thrived.

Then I was sitting in the cafeteria with Annie Parisse, an actress who played one of Jack McCoy's assistants on "Law & Order," and an ex-girlfriend or ex-wife, I don't remember which, of Bobby Cannavale's character on the HBO series "Vinyl." Those are the only 2 roles I can remember seeing Ms Parisse play. When I saw her in "Vinyl," at first I couldn't place her. When I realized that she was the same actress from "Law & Order," I was very impressed, because the 2 characters seem to me to be so very different. She was being very friendly, giving me compliments about my business success. It was very pleasant sitting there with her.

After Ms Parisse and I had been speaking for a while, Bobby Cannavale showed up and interrupted our pleasant conversation. Suddenly he and Ms Parisse more closely resembled the characters they played in "Vinyl." Cannavale was dressed in stereotypical 70's-pimp attire, with a hat with a big feather in it, a fur coat and polyester bell-bottoms. He flirted more and more openly with Ms Parisse, and she seemed to enjoy it, and I became envious and tried to think of some way to get Cannavale to leave. Then I woke up.