Vertigo
Alfred Hitchcock rips out my brain.
Back in 1992 I got my first chance to goto a professional conference, Usenix in San Francisco. I was so excited, but just before I was going to leave I came down with a cold. I remember getting out of bed and saying to my then wife, "I think I have pneumonia."
She replied, "No you don't, people with pneumonia are way sicker than you. Trust me, I'm a nurse I know, I've seen them."
I went to the doctor anyway, and told him how it felt like something was occupying my chest. He dismissed my worries with a bit more bedside manner than my then ex-wife. I told him about my trip and he encouraged me to go. So I did.
I got to the conference and settled into my hotel room. I was exhausted, and grabbed an Orangina from the mini-bar figuring I'd go out and get one in the morning to replace it so I wouldn't get stuck for $5.
I dreamed that death was hovering over me and had this weird creeping feeling that I was going to die. I couldn't shake it. What was even stranger was that people kept showing up in front of my hotel door and pointing at it. I eventually started opening the door in a hurry and saying, "Can I help you?" This look of horror would shoot over their face and then they would leave in a embarrassed flurry.
The next morning I went out and bought an Orangina to replace the one from the mini-bar. I went one whole block and back. It had already been "restocked". They must be watching a video feed or something. That was a scary efficiency when it comes to fleecing.
Then I went to the conference in my best suit. First thing I discovered was the aggressive pan handlers of San Francisco. You would give them some change and they would curse you out, shouting things like "YOU THINK I CAN EAT ON THIS MUCH MONEY. YOU CHEAP BASTARD!" Then as if this was the cue, every beggar in the street would descend upon your position. Not only did I feel like I was dying, but the damn vultures were circling.
Then when I got off the bus at the conference, I overheard a comment, "Well all content of this conference is over, the suits have arrived." Years later I felt the same way at RailConf 2007. Weird how time goes in a circle like that.
I got back to my hotel room and a message was waiting on me. My doctor called and asked me to return to Tennessee as soon as possible. So I got on the next flight out. Weird people were still showing up at my hotel room and talking in hushed whispers.
When I got back, my doctor told me I had walking pneumonia and I might need to be hospitalized. He said he was going to prescribe some antibotics and once the germs were knocked down my body would realize just how sick it was. It turns out the walking pneumonia germ release some chemicals into your blood convincing you body it's okay, there's no problem, everything is alright.
On the way home I stopped by Gemstone video and rented a stack of movies figuring I was going to be bed bound soon. One I rented was Vertigo, by Alfred Hitchcock.
The medication kicked in at home and boy did I feel sick. The lack of chemicals telling me I'm alright left me in a near panic, due to inability to do things like breathe. The body gets primordial when it's having trouble breathing. I laid in bed and watched videos when it was possible.
Well at some point I began watching Vertigo, and toward the end the protagonist follows the lady to her apartment. I noticed he followed her onto the street of my hotel in San Francisco. Then I noticed he went in the entrance to the hotel I stayed in. Then he got on the elevator I used. Then he knocked on the door of the room I was in. Then the room was exactly like the movie (except the mini-bar with outrageous prices). Needless to say, vertigo became my reality at that point and my world view was forever warped by the mind of Alfred Hitchcock, twisting, falling, twisting...
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