Dear Ann Landers: The letter from Terrified in Florida is one I could have written. I, too, had reruns of the same dream that plagued your correspondent. Actually it made no sense for me to be anxious about flunking an exam. I was an excellent student. But night after night I had nightmares in which I was soaked with perspiration, struggling with an exam and no answers would come.
It is now 50 years later, and I still have that same dream, but at least I know why. It comes when I am faced with a decision I would just as soon not make. Your column really does link all humanity. Thank you for it.
Product of Purdue
Dear Purdue: What a nice compliment. Linking is what makes us human. Read on.
Dear Ann Landers: I am 52 and have had a busy legal career for 27 years. Your Terrified correspondent is not alone. Recently at a dinner party the subject of dreams came up, and several of us admitted that we have had that same classroom nightmare. A psychologist who was present said it was common among people who are fastidious about keeping appointments and living up to commitments. They have a deep-seated fear of letting people down or falling behind. His explanation satisfied me, and I haven`t had the dream since.
C.A.L., Paris, Ill.
From Westchester, N.Y.: Please tell Terrified in Florida that he is not alone. I had the same nightmare all through college and eight years after I graduated. They robbed me of several nights` rest because once I was awakened I couldn`t go back to sleep. Finally I had a long talk with myself and said,
”Look, idiot, you did graduate, so knock it off.” I never had the dream after that.
From Midland, Tex.: I, too, have had periodic nightmares about exams even though I`ve been out of school 45 years. A young engineer who works with me, four years out of college, has them, too.
I have two variations, however. Here`s the worse: I come out of a shopping center and can`t find my car. I keep looking and looking, and I never do find it. I wake up in a cold sweat, relieved that it was only a dream.
Nightmare No. 2.: I have been recalled to the Navy for the Korean War. (I served in World War II.) I try to explain to the officer in charge that I should not have been recalled, that it`s all a mistake, but no one will listen, and I am back in uniform. I have both these dreams every few months.
Enclosed you will find an article from Time magazine (1974) on recurring nightmares. I found it fascinating.
Dear Midland: I appreciate the Time reprint. Here are the highlights:
E.C.K. Read wrote in the letters column of Harvard magazine about his recurring nightmare. He discovers that he is scheduled to take an exam for a course he had neglected totally. Worse yet, he can`t find out where the exam is to be held. He becomes panic-stricken. When his ”confession” appeared, 60 graduates wrote to say they had had the same dream.
The editors of the Princeton Alumni Weekly printed Read`s letter and subsequently were deluged with letters from Princetonians who also had had the same dream. The clincher-so did their Radcliffe and Wellesley wives.
So, dear readers, just when we are feeling special and unique, something like this comes along to remind us that in a great many ways we are all pretty much the same.
Drugs are everywhere. They are easy to get, easy to use and even easier to get hooked on. If you have questions about drugs and drug use, Ann Landers` newly revised booklet, ”The Lowdown on Dope,” has the answers. For a copy, send $2.50 plus an addressed, stamped No. 10 envelope (39 cents postage) to Ann Landers, Box 11562, Chicago, Ill. 60611-0562.
