Warehouse Position

 

I dreamed I was working a temp job, in a warehouse type environment down by the sea. The air was a gray mist of soot and clammy fog. The floor of the warehouse was concrete, spotted with oil stains and covered in a layer of beach sand. In the middle of the floor, there was a swimming pool size hole in the cement, filled with unfathomably deep seawater which was presumably adjoined to the ocean. 

The working atmosphere was one of continual chaos, as the conveyor belt of new hires like myself required constant training. No one really knew what they were doing except for the boss, and he had to keep referring to a chart on the wall for basic operating guidelines.

"Get yourselves acquainted with this chart, gentlemen," he said, pointing to a list of about 4 items, written on white paper about the size of an eye exam chart, taped to a blackboard in the break room.

I couldn't make out the writing no matter how close I got. The chart was up too high and the angle was impossible. I had to guess at the items and try to piece together the instructions from several other posters and flyers that were taped haphazardly across the blackboard in a cryptic, ransom note fashion.

One of my co-workers hopped into one of the semis and drove off in search of an empty trailer. On his way out, he turned the corner too sharp and clipped the side of another work truck, causing extensive damage to its cab. He kept on driving, even though there was quite a bit of damage to his own truck as well. I knew when he got back the shit was going to hit the fan, and he would be called out for his recklessness.

I decided to go fishing in the seawater filled hole in the floor. I grabbed one of the available fishing rods and immediately hooked something pretty big. I reeled in what looked like a grouper or a cod. It was so heavy that it threatened to break the pole. I grabbed the line with my hands, and it dug into my flesh, so I put on a pair of work gloves and hoisted the fish out of the water by hand.

I got a look at the fish as it squirmed on the line. It had been bitten in half. The bite was clean, with jagged tooth marks, as if the fish had been cut in half with a giant pair of pinking shears. I surmised that it had been partially eaten by a shark. I ran with the still squirming, half-eaten fish and tried to locate the boss to show him.

I couldn't find the boss right away, so I ditched the fish, tossing him back into the sea hole. No point bringing my boss half a fish anyway. I was curious about my co-worker who had damaged the truck. He was now in the boss's office getting chewed out. I lurked around the corner, trying to listen in.

While I was waiting around outside the office, I grabbed a necktie and a suit jacket from one of the lockers. It was a mustard brown polyester job with a pink tie, not the snazziest outfit, but it would do. I was trying to impress the boss, since I hadn't crashed any trucks that day.

He looked around the corner and gave me the thumbs up while continuing to bawl out my careless co-worker. I went back to the charts, trying to decrypt the instructions, but I never could. I woke up soon thereafter, remembering that I'd dreamed something, but like the half a fish, this was all I came up with.