Bad Martini Anxiety Dream

Last night I dreamed that one of my supervisors at work, Dr. V, announced she was going to treat the 'team' to a martini at a fancy hotel bar to celebrate finishing a project. I'm not that much into work socializing, but I went along with it, since I'm not the type to turn down a good free martini. I invited Beebo and a couple of other people along, figuring I could get my drink and then wander off to their table hang out with them.

After work, we get to the lounge, which is a large, fancy old-fashioned room like this photo:

(Copley Plaza Oak Bar, Boston)

and I find that, contrary to my expectations, we're not going to sit down in the swank chairs and wait for the cocktail waitress to come around and take our orders. Instead, in one corner of the room there has been set up a long fold-out event table with a bunch of drink fixings set out on it. It's got a couple of 1.75 liter plastic bottles of inexpensive domestic gin and vodka, a couple of lemons, and a jar of small olives, like what you'd find at a drug store's food section. This is where our celebratory martinis are coming from, not from the real bar. And to make matters worse, the mixologist will be Dr. V! One thing I don't really like is an amateur martini, and I have no faith that the doctor can make a competent one.

I'm looking around, trying to figure out if I can just slip over to my friends' table and order a real drink, but Dr. V says "Hey [Foulard], come over here if you want your martini!", and I have to comply. I request my normal gin up with a twist, and look back a moment later to see that a disturbing 'dirty martini' is being made. It's a cocktail glass stuffed with mashed-up bits of olive. "You've got to let it steep" Dr. V says, but I manage to correct her and then get a passable martini of the kind I requested, and eventually I drift over to Beebo & Co.

I think this dream is definitely influenced by my discomfort at work-related events, since they tend to be dreary (with a few exceptions), and my dislike of having to stand in line to get served. Most of the time I'd rather pay more to have a good experience. As far as martinis go, I can make one at home that's as good or better than most places, so I'm very picky.