there's a third rather common dream i forgot to bring up, the "not knowing my lines" dream. i used to participate in plays and such in school. i'm not sure why, i never really liked it. suffered from stage fright like you wouldn't believe -- guess i did it to get over my fears? but i still have this recurring dream where i'm on stage, and have no idea what the play is, and everyone's waiting for me to deliver lines i've never seen the script for.
This reminds me of another apparently common dream that I don't think has been mentioned yet (I've had it myself a couple of times that I remember and friends have said that they've had it too), the "caught out in public wearing only your underpants" dream. A horrible feeling for sure.
I suspect this and the "forgotten lines" dream all reflect a general fear of being caught in a situation that we are completely unprepared for and cannot control, resulting in humiliation in front of many spectators. I'm also reminded of another dream, the "violently vomiting in the gutter in the middle of an entertainment district on a busy crowded Saturday night while people watching from hotel balconies up above are cheering you on" ... oh wait, that one wasn't a dream