Last night I dreamed I went to the zombie apocalypse again

[crypto]

I was trapped in an office building with a couple dozen other people, all strangers. One of them took control of the group, who was willing to follow him, but he was reckless, didn't have a strategy, and endangered everybody. I think he ended up getting trapped in a stairwell and eaten by the zombies.

Someone else stepped up to lead, but focused on making decisions by consensus through interminable processes which kept breaking down as people turned on each other. I think they ended up getting thrown out of a window into the waiting arms of hungry zombies.

Somehow I ended up appointed the third leader. I came up with a plan to get us to safety, but everybody was still squabbling, so I bullied them all into following me. I used anything that worked -- insults, yelling, verbal abuse, physical threats -- until they went along with my plan, cowering all the way.

That was the worst part of the dream (the zombies weren't really that scary; they were mostly preoccupied with scavenging for Wiis and iPads). I was completely horrified at myself. Is that really my subconscious leadership style? 

Comments

[egret]

I dreamed that my brother in law was trying to kill me with a handheld laserbeam. He had the same hair as Khan in the Trek movie, which was a switch from his buzzcut.

[crypto]

That's disturbing (both hair & laserbeam). Maybe there was something weird going on astrologically for us that night?

[green]

Necessity compels, needs must, etc. You saved them, right? And you did a better job than the first two.

[crypto]

Thanks! I'd be honored to have you by my side in the event of zombie apocalypse. ;)

[lo_rez]

Ahahahaha! Revenge of the coalition-builder's subconscious?

PS: I am totally stealing this dream for a future exam question.

[crypto]

Ha, I think you nailed it *facepalm*.

Or maybe I was just overly influenced by The Darken Rahl School of Management (aka How to Crush Enemies and Manipulate Mord-Sith).

[wendelah1]

This dream sounds pretty funny. I'm assuming it was about work, but maybe not. Maybe it was just for entertainment purposes. "I know! Let's have a zombie dream tonight! Yeah, zombies!" Someone proposed a theory that every character in your dream is really an aspect of your personality, which would mean you are the first leader, the second leader, and the third, as well as the people getting bullied, the ones who get eaten, and the zombies! Maybe you are the building and the stairwell, too. Does that make you feel any better?

[crypto]

It probably was about work. I do like that theory about dreams, though. I'm not sure it makes me feel better, exactly, but it does make my whole dream even sillier.