“My phone rang, and although it wasn’t a sinister time of night, and although nothing had happened that I would later see as foreshadowing, I knew, I knew.”
― Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life

This morning I woke up from a vivid dream where a man was carefully setting charges to blow up a bridge. I stumbled into the kitchen and told my husband that, “A man was going to blow up a bridge in my dream.” When I turned on the television, the local news channel was airing a live report of the remaining span of the old Tappan Zee Bridge being demolished. Three, two, one…IMPLOSION!

This was, by no means, the first useless premonition that I’ve had. The first one that I remember was while I was in high school. I dreamed that a skyscraper was on fire and people were jumping to their death. It was so vivid that I was horribly shaken, so I called my friend Dirk. He was quiet for a moment and asked if I had seen that morning’s newspaper. I replied that I had not, and he quietly told me that there had been a major fire in an Asian high-rise hotel overnight and people had, indeed, leapt to their death to escape the flames.

One far less tragic premonition occurred when I dreamed that my female GYN had a new associate, a devastatingly handsome young, male doctor with black, wavy hair and blue eyes. I woke up and said, “Oh, crap,” because I had an appointment for that day. Sure enough, my very own “Dr. McDreamy” walked into the exam room in lieu of my usual doctor.

The only useful premonition that I remember occurred when I was a 19-year-old college student living in Memphis with my best friend J and her father. That morning, I was sitting in a class when I was struck by the feeling that something horrible had happened. When the class ended, I called my friend to find out if she was alright. When she assured me that she was, I told her to be careful, because something bad was going to happen.

That evening, J’s boyfriend D picked us up to take us for dinner at the home of the young man who would eventually become my husband. J and I got into the car, and I told D to, “Be careful. Something awful is going to happen today.” Dinner was pleasant, but uneventful, and I couldn’t figure out why I still had a sense of impending doom.

When we arrived home, we found notes that J’s father had posted all over the house saying, “Judie, your grandmother died this morning. Call your mother.”

Now that I think of it, I’m not sure that this premonition was at all useful. Maybe it would have been if it had been clear enough to make me call my mother that morning so she wouldn’t have to wait all day to inform me of grandmother’s death.

Lest you think I’m crazy, a quick internet search will confirm that I am not the only one who gets useless premonitions.  Most of the reported dreams or intuitions were mundane, such as knowing that the phone was going to ring or who was at the door. Some predicted major catastrophic events, such as 9/11, but didn’t provide potentially life-saving details such as dates, times and locations.

I’ve had enough premonitions to believe that they’re real. Where do they come from? God? Angels? The collective unconscious? The sixth sense? And why are mine so darn useless? I need psychic insights that will protect my loved ones and me from harm and give me the winning Mega Million lottery numbers.

As always, dear readers, I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.