A Foot-Noted Legal Dream

Saturday night I had the following dream: After shopping at the downtown Ottawa Ikea¹, I went to get my jacket from their coat check room,² but it wasn't there. Then Phil came along wearing my jacket.³ He had it because his light brown bomber jacket⁴ had been taken from the coat check by someone else and he insisted they give him somebody else's jacket until his was returned. I asked Phil to give me my jacket back and he refused.⁵ (Honestly, Phil, how could you be such a jerk?) It was Saturday, so the only thing to do was go to the home of Justice Ratushny⁶ which was in a leafy downtown neighbourhood.⁷ Justice Ratushny convened a court in her backyard at the picnic table and I asked for an interlocutory order for the return of my jacket. Even though I hadn't actually launched an action, Justice Ratushny granted the order because Phil admitted that it was my jacket. This is when I woke up and I am happy to report that my jacket was in the closet when I went downstairs. If any of you dream interpreters would like to share an expert opinion, I'd be interested to know if this dream means anything. ___________________ ¹ There is no Ikea in downtown Ottawa. ² As far as I know, Ikea's do not have coat checks. ³ Phil is roughly five inches taller than me. I suspect my jacket would not fit him well. It is also much scruffier than the well-styled clothing he wears. ⁴ I don't know if Phil has a light brown bomber jacket, but it is a look that would probably suit him. Perhaps a good idea for a birthday present. ⁵ Phil and I have some moral differences on the copying of music and the harm of tobacco, but I cannot imagine him stealing someone's jacket or borrowing one without permission. In fact, it is more likely that I'd do something like this. ⁶ On Saturday, I had been reading Justice Ratushny's decision in O'Neill v. Canada, the case about the bad search at Juliet O'Neill's house. It's one of those judgments that increases your confidence in the legal system. Justice Ratushny is also one of the few judges I've met in real life and she is really nice. ⁷ This leafy downtown neighbourhood was sort of like Powell Avenue houses around Bay and Nepean, in other words not an actual place. I don't know where the Ratushnys live.