Working in The Coal Mines

Finally, something different for once concerning my dreams. And despite what the title might imply, it really isn’t all that bad either. I’d go as far as to say it was one of my most laid back dreams that I had in a while.

Basically I was working in an underground coal mine somewhere far from home. I can’t really specify the specifics of it accurately since I never worked in a coal mine before but it’s not exactly back breaking labor as you might assume such a job title to be. Everything was done by machines which were operated by man and you would usually sit around in a vehicle as the machine did all the crushing and digging for you. The dream started off right around lunch break and everyone would hang out in this area that I can best describe as an underground construction camp. There were shipping container like barracks for the employees to sleep in as well as a cafeteria sort of building in the center of it all. It really was like some underground town with all these camps inside this cave. There’s no sunlight but there are some artificial lights that are bright enough to let you see around camp.

I sat with some group of fellow employees, some of whom I recognized as former classmates but never were really friends with in reality. Our meals were simple: Sandwiches with a side of chips as our choice (I ended up with some Cheetos since I like cheese), a fruit of some sort, and a canister of coffee or tea. It’s honestly way better than the food they used to offer back when I was in school. As far as discussions were concerned, our conversation between each other wasn’t really that significant. We were talking about work related things like coal yields, machinery upkeep, and so forth. The whole vibe felt very chill either way. I could live with this.

Once lunch break was over, we got our hard hats and suits and we were off into the depths of the mines once again. Everyone usually worked on their own with their own machinery. I had this large tractor like vehicle with claws that alternated like a mole in front of the vehicle. Each claw would strike at the cave walls and drag the deposits out and into a catch bin bellow the vehicle where the debris would be collected and taken to a facility to be filtered out for coal. This process was very dusty but we had protective gear and oxygen masks so it wasn’t too bad apart from the dust you would get on your clothes. Honestly, there really wasn’t too much to this dream from here on out. I just spent all my time operating this machine, digging and kind of relaxed as I did my labor in peace and by myself.

No rude or abrupt awakenings either. I had a decent night sleep so I was gently regaining my grip on reality as I woke up but I had a pretty good recollection of what I just experienced in my dream. It’s kind of making me consider the possibility of maybe getting into a mining job. I heard (from a historical perspective) that mining can be a dangerous and back breaking job but assuming you take into consideration that most modern machines do most of the labor these days, is it really as harsh as people make it out to be? I would need to do more research on this as it seems interesting to say the least.