[dusted]

Similar nightmares used to haunt me, but they were about school.

Instead of showing up without pants, I showed up without knowing the subject at all.. I'd sit there intently trying to make sense of what we were doing.. I could barely identify "oh, this is math, fuck.. I've not done my homework.. the past 4 grades.." and of course it ends with me getting asked some question and waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night.

To be fair.. I never did any homework and sucked hard at math because of it.. so the nightmares probably just reflected my waking life.

Could it be that you actually do feel like you're slacking off too much at home? Are you actually?

When covid hit, I was the first to work from home, I thought it'd be amazing but I never got the hang of it.. I'd tried once previously as a fully-remote, I had to leave that job because I couldn't do it.. So when restrictions were lifted, I was right back at office and never looked back.

[jvanderbot]

I still have nightmares that I remember about a require class that I've been neglecting, and like you, I don't know enough to get the required grade. And, to make matters worse, if I don't pass this class this semester, I will not finish my degree, and my job offer will be revoked, etc etc.

My graduating year was very stressful. First grad student in the family, new relationship, finishing thesis and final publications, a math result that fell apart leaving one publication in danger, job hunting, tech interviews, and negotiations, cross-country move (compounding relationship). I didn't realize how stressful until I got the benefit of hindsight.

I'm also sure I"ll have nightmares about this time right now: Sick babies, haven't caught up from their newborn days, new high stress job, cross country move (again), house hunting while stuck in a rental, uncertain income (due to uncertain RSU vesting due to stressful job and all this time with sick kiddos slowing me down).

Come to think of it, where's the support group for these kind of white-collar, good-to-have kind of problems? I'm fairly confident this is one of the major contributors to generational success: You can look to your parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles , etc and get a data point that everything will be OK, everyone struggles with their thesis, etc and get meaningful advice and genuine support because the people around you have been there.

[jesuscript]

Goes to show how formative those years are/were. If this isn’t PTSD, I don’t know what is. Might as well have flashbacks about Vietnam.

I’d imagine todays kids will one day have nightmares about their Insta pics being ugly, or their social media identities being tarnished. They start this stuff so young, so I really think there is no way their mind isn’t going to be warped.

The war never ends I guess.

[mudrockbestgirl]

That's funny, I've been haunted by nightmares about school as well. I sometimes dream that I get perfect grades in all my classes but then there is this one subject I totally forgot about. I did not go to any classes. I did not take any exams. I did not do any homework. And it completely ruins my transcript and chances for college.

[didgeoridoo]

I’ve had this exact same recurring dream — it’s the end of the semester and I notice for the first time that there’s a class on my schedule I totally forgot about and haven’t attended once. I wonder what that’s all about.

[dangerface]

> I showed up without knowing the subject at all

This is so interesting I had the same feeling and now as an adult it seems so strange, school was supposed to be about learning not testing what you already knew so why was I worried about it? Strange