Jimmy Bramlett 360

This was a dream I had last night. 

For some reason I worked at CNN as a producer for Anderson Cooper’s show. We were live on air, and I was running around the periphery doing producer things. At least I suppose I was a producer since I was indeed a CNN employee and what else would I be doing running around the edges of the stage coordinating things? Also it seems the dress codes were never updated from the 50s since we were all wearing suits. 

After the show wrapped up, Anderson was called into a meeting with the higher ups. A bunch of other producers and anchors and I were wondering what was up when one of them said that they were abruptly replacing Anderson. 

I was apoplectic. I can’t begin to describe the rage I felt. It was so visceral that at one point I took off a ring I was wearing and threw it against the conference room window where they were having the meeting. I couldn’t understand why they were sacking Anderson – he’s such a fucking milktoast guy and he brings the ratings. Why change? 

Next thing I know, the meeting ended. I saw Anderson from afar. We locked eyes, and he pointed at me. There was no anger or emotion in it. It was rather matter-of-fact, maybe a slight congratulations if there was any emotion in it.

That confused me. What did any of this have to do with me? A flurry of thoughts raced through my mind. Why? How? Huh? All of this was interrupted when I was called into the conference room. 

The network president told me they were going in a new direction and gave me Anderson’s time slot. What the fuck? Why me? I’m not experienced! I’ve never read off a prompter much less on live television (actually I have in real life, but in this dream I did not.) Would this make me a traitor if I take this job? Oh my god I’m rich! What happens when they catch on I’m a fraud in a couple of months? What kind of show will I do? What do I need to do? How fucking stupid would I be if I didn’t take this?

Of course I was frozen with a shocked expression, nothing coming out of my mouth. They were talking about I don’t know what. My brain just shut down. I just looked at the people in that room trying to make sense of this. 

Once the meeting was done, they escorted me downstairs to another huge conference room where my mom and colleagues  were gathered for a celebration. I finally came to and started making jokes as I normally do, looking under the table and asking if they had the right person. Of course my mom annoyed me when she asked the president about my salary. 

Then I woke up to pee. 

I am confused by this. I don’t watch CNN, I don’t particularly like Anderson Cooper, I have never wanted to be a news reader, don’t want to be famous. I just want to be rich, but not anything like this. So why is my subconscious expressing this nonsense to me? I guess maybe deep down I do want to be a news reader? Whatever.