it's tough being this famous

I know how it feels to be the Beckhams. It's a frustrating world out there but sometimes you just have to grin and bare it. People say that they chose fame and so have to live with the consequences - constant paparazzi attention, stalkers, snide comments.

Okay, so maybe I'm not on the same scale as David and Victoria or Angelina and Brad - maybe not even on the same planet - but I am familiar with the basic concept. Today I was out for a walk (from my car to Starbucks and back) in Coleraine. I'm lucky in that I live in a different town from the one I work; this means I rarely bump into my pupils outside school hours. When I do you can see them spotting you and slyly nudging their mothers and pointing you out. I, of course, maintain an air of nonchalance as if I haven't noticed them. As they get closer they'll say "hello sir" and smile sweetly. At this point I will allow a smile of recognition cross my face and reply with a suitable greeting as I pass by. Occasionally I'll spot pupils in the distance who will whisper among their friends when they see me and shout some random comment across the road.

Sometimes it is a little irritating but nowhere near as irritating as when they don't recognise me. Today as I was walking through town I passed a pupil with her mother checking out Dorothy Perkins' window. I prepared my dignified nonchalance - but nothing. I walked a little slower to give her more time to recognise me - but nothing. I was in turmoil - I checked my reflection in the mirror in case I had changed appearance or gone invisible.

Which is worse? Being an anonymous face or being jeered at from across the street. I don't rightly know but I am sure of one thing - when I hear someone say that Tom Cruise and Katie whatever-her name-is are not entitled to a private life because they chose to become famous, I may just explain about living in the same town as your pupils.