Making a Quiet Exit

Those dreams just keep on coming.  As I've noted before, I'm sure that it is down to the medication I take for my blood pressure, either one of those pills on their own, or some combination of them, seem to stimulate my sleeping sub-conscious into some truly fantastic imagining - all in technicolor and wide screen.  (Again, as I've previously speculated, it possibly has something to do with an improved blood flow to the brain - there was an article in today's Guardian as to how high blood pressure can impair mental processes.  Which is something I can vouch for, as when my blood pressure hit a high a couple of years ago, due to work-related stress, there's no doubt that my decision making and cognitive abilities became poor and sluggish. It was like trying to think through treacle).  Anyway, to get back to the dreams - I had at least three, very vivid dreams last night.  Unfortunately, two of them have faded from my memory completely.  But one I can still recall and, as ever, it had some intriguing aspects.  At the point at which my recollection of the dream commences, (as is often the case, I'm sure that there was something else leading up to this point, but it is lost in the mists of memory), I found myself attending some kind of gathering.  It appeared to be in some sort of restaurant and the other attendees were people I knew - either in real life or from fiction.  Various conversations were going on, but as time went on, I participated less and less, to the point where I decide that, somehow, my job was done - all these people were now talking to each other - so it was time for me to quietly slip away.

At which point, I made a stealthy exit via a side door, which took me through a kitchen, then through another door which took me into the corridor leading to the exit.  Outside, it was snowing and I had to negotiate a long pavement, full of kids playing in the snow, followed by a steep hill.  At the top of the hill was a road - I knew that once across it, I only had to slip between two buildings to get onto the path to the railway station and a train home.  Curiously, I now found that the gap between the buildings was too narrow to get through, although I'd remembered coming through them earlier.  So I had to take a diversion through a nearby car park to regain the path, which ran between the two parts of the car park (suspiciously like the car park where my car usually lives).  At this point, I woke up.  So, what are we to make of all this?  Does it actually mean anything or is it something concocted randomly from various memories by my sleeping mind?  While the bit about not being able to pass between the buildings is interesting, it the fact that I slipped away quietly and stealthily from that gathering is, for me, the most significant part of the dream.  I've done that in real life so many times - the stealthy exit is one of my talents.  I'm anti-social at the best of times, so the quiet exit is something I've perfected when I've felt obliged (or been forced) to attend a social gathering.  I've dome it from parties, work functions, wedding receptions, the lot.  I'm very poor at the meaningless small talk required at such occasions, so after a few pleasantries, I find it easy to withdraw from conversations and fade into the background, before exiting.

The secret is not to stand around looking like a spare part - it makes you conspicuous and people might feel obliged to try and include you.  No, what you should do is look as if you are getting another drink, or browsing the buffet, then edge toward the exit.  but do it subtly - you really don't want to draw attention to yourself.  That would defeat the whole object of the exercise.  The one thing I do hate are people who draw attention to their exit from such occasions - for them it is all about drawing attention to themselves.  Even worse is the 'flounce', the disgruntled exit of someone who feels that they should have had all the attention at the gathering, but didn't.  The best exit is one that nobody notices.  I do so hate drawing attention to myself, so I'm proud of my ability to walk away from social functions without causing undue fuss and offence.  Very occasionally, someone will notice your attempt to slip away, at which point some polite excuse is needed - a prior engagement, for instance.  Always have one prepared.  In fat, it often pays to mention it to the host at the outset, to prepare the groundwork - not make a big deal of it, just a casual mention that you might have to leave early, thereby ensuring that if you are seen leaving, it won't come as a surprise.  So, if the dream was about anything, I think it was a celebration of my quiet exiting expertise.