Dream of:
19 December 1993 (2) "Crossing Jordan"A black man (about 40 years old) was sitting in the front passenger seat of a station wagon which I was driving. Other young people were in the back; we were all returning from a camping trip. We were in Dallas and we needed to go all the way to the other side of town. I pulled out a map of Dallas to see what would be the best route. The black man also looked at the map and began directing me.
The black man worked for the police department; apparently he held a high rank. He said he needed to stop by the police station on the way across town to take care of something. I was displeased because I needed to reach my destination at three o'clock, and it was already twenty to three. Nevertheless, I drove to the station and pulled up in front. As the man stepped out of the car and walked into the station, the others and I waited. As time passed I became impatient; finally I decided to walk inside, hoping to hurry up the black man.
I walked into a waiting room and stood there a few minutes. Finally I noticed a mirror and looked at myself in it. I was wearing a cap turned around backwards. I was also wearing a long tan trench coat. Realizing I was not dressed appropriately, I walked back outside.
I got into the back seat of the car, which actually belonged to the black man; I had only been driving to help out. In the back seat I had an eight track cassette player and quite a few eight tracks. I found one by Bob Dylan and put it on. Roger Anderson (a friend from high school) was also in the station wagon, in the back; would he enjoy Dylan? I pressed the buttons until the tape started playing on the first track, but the music did not sound right. Thinking the tape might be malfunctioning, I pulled it out.
I would probably need to sell that tape and any other bad tapes I had. But I had reservations about doing that. It might not be right to put a bad tape in circulation. If I did it, other people would also do the same, and I would end up buying a bad tape someday.
Finally the black man returned and climbed into the driver's seat. As we pulled off, I thought I still might make it to where I needed to go. I put in another tape by John Lennon. I pressed the buttons to put the tape on the first track. A song titled "Jordan" began playing. The song seemed of a religious nature and was quite beautiful. The song seemed to speak of crossing Jordan, a metaphor for crossing into the afterlife.
It suddenly occurred to me I should have asked the black man if he wanted to hear the music. It might be disturbing. When I leaned over the seat and asked him if he wanted to hear the music, he rather gruffly replied, "No."
I immediately turned off the music and climbed over the seat into the front passenger seat.
The black man had once thought about attending law school. I reflected on the rather intimate connection between police and lawyers. I had known some people in law school who had started out in the police force. I had previously talked with the black man about going to law school; I now asked him if he had thought about taking some night classes. Perhaps he could take the classes at SMU. He indicated he had thought about it. I asked him if he had taken the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). He said he was scheduled to take it.
I told him that the LSAT was an important test and that the grade would stay with him forever. I vividly recalled my first day of law school and how I had sat around with other new students and compared LSAT scores. I particularly remembered Tom Campbell (a former law school classmate) having made a high score. I had also made a high score; having made a low score would have been an embarrassment which would have stayed with me forever.
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