Wow! I go to bed to sleep off last night's revelry and come back to 3 pages of postings. Crazy stuff!

Looking back on what I wrote and what people have answered is indeed interesting to me. I left it open in my original post and didn't offer my own take on whether I enjoyed being in the spotlight or not.

Fame is a funny thing. It's one of those things that are cool when you think about, and figure, "Man, it'd be nice to be famous." But the reality of it is far different. Until I got transferred to a college, I used to teach English in the city's elementary schools. 12 of them to be exact. I was a traveling roadshow and the kids saw me every two months for an hour of fun English games, songs, and whatnot. Needless to say, that made me very well known and popular in this city of 200,000 people. It's no small thing to teach 4,000 kids. When you go out shopping or to a restaurant, it's not unusual to run into your students and have them notice you. I didn't exactly LIKE being noticed all the time, but I tolerated it. What really just about made my head explode was when one day I walked into a McDonalds to grab a quick lunch. The restaurant was pretty full, mostly with my students. I got the shock of my life when every single eye in the room focused on me in the entrance, and with one mighty shout that shook the building, they all blurted out, essentially in unison: "JIM-SENSEI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The whole friggin' restaurant. It was so disconcerting, I seriously had to turn 180, and leave as quickly as I could. It was just way too much for me to handle.

Therefore, in my own poll, I also chose a happy medium. It feels nice to be noticed. It makes you feel good when people comment on something you take pride in wearing and an outfit you put together... I enjoy telling people about the tartan I'm wearing, its history and some cool facts about it. Ever the teacher, I like telling stories and educating others about things they may have never seen or experienced before. Yet, it has its limits, and I often like to go about my business without having to worry about what the next person will say or think, and whether I'm going to have to stop and take time from my itinerary to talk to him -- even if it's 100% positive.

With apologies to Panache for not starting another gin thread, I must say that I appreciate everyone's responses thus far and into helping me see what makes you 'tick'.

Jim