I was in a dream where I was in something like a McDonalds. As I was eating the fries, I noticed that each fry was in its own individual cardboard package with labeling ("Spicy Fry", "Regular Fry"). As I became lucid and started interrogating the environment, I started speaking to people.
me: "Where I am I? What country is this?"
customer: "You are in Philadelphia."
They had very official looking drivers licenses, claiming them as residents of Philadelphia.
me: "In my terminology, Philadelphia is a city...it's not a country. Have you ever heard of the United States?"
customer: "Never heard of that."
Note
Upon reviewing old dreams, I noticed than in Going to Fidel I was speaking to a child who thought Philadelphia was in Orange County</a>. I have never lived in or cared much about Philadelphia, so these location confuses are a somewhat odd recurrence.)
A man approached me who seemed more clued in.
him: "Now you're going to probably try to establish the terms, like have I heard of Earth and all that."
me: "Um... yes..."
him: "Well, I have. But we need more information. Let's start with this: Is the United States in the Northern Hemisphere or the Southern Hemisphere?"
me: "Northern."
him: "Okay, we agree on that much. But how much further can we get? You've already run into a wall with people who think Philadelphia is a country. To prove otherwise you'll have to memorize a lot more. Why haven't you done that?"
me: "Oh, come on. I shouldn't have to! Besides, would it help when everyone is so brain-dead?"
He shrugged. For some reason I decided I was going to go to the cash register and try to order some lemonade and see what happened. While ordering I noticed a cubbyhole next to the cash register where a bunch of coupons were folded...they were wide and rectangular and reminded me of the things that come in those envelopes stuffed with coupons in the mail. Something made me feel these held proof of another civilization.
After my order was complete, the cashier didn't ask me for money but filled out a form that had many layers--with carbon paper and such underneath the main layer. It said the lemonade cost $5.00 and that if I signed for it then it would be paid for by someone else.
Suddenly I got the foreboding sense that there was something out to get me, and then there were laser beams coming from the sky blowing away trees and houses. I managed to hide and held out for a bit before waking up.