Recently I had a dream about Pete Davidson, the SNL cast member. In the dream, Pete and I were in the checkout line together at a supermarket. We started to chat, but very shortly I realized I could not make any sense of what Pete was saying.
He was gesturing with his hands, making faces, laughing, and was otherwise highly animated. The longer he went on without my understanding, the more awkward the situation became for me. I did my best to appear like I understood him, smiling and nodding.
When he finally finished, I waved goodbye, and felt terribly sorry for Pete. It pained me that someone so animated and clearly good-natured could have such difficulty communicating. I remember thinking that perhaps he was mentally challenged.
Then, in my dream, I woke up a few days later having realized something: Pete Davidson was not mentally challenged. If anything, I was. I finally understood everything he told me, and realized that he had spent the entire time making fun of me. All the jokes had gone completely over my head. The jokes were so sophisticated that it took me days to realize I was the butt of all of them.
Now, instead of feeling sad for Pete, I felt sad and ashamed of myself.
Then, I remembered that in the society of the dream, there was a class of "genius jesters" like Pete. These genius jesters walked among normal people and constantly made fun of them. Most commoners were never able to understand the ways they were insulted by the genius jesters, and so it was common practice to pretend to understand that you were the butt of the joke and to laugh along with the jester.
I felt silly for having been confused by Pete initially. I should have recognized him as a genius jester and played along, pretending to understand the reasons I should have laughed at myself with him.
I started to feel better about myself when I realized that, unlike most people, at least I eventually actually understood a genius jester. Then I woke up.