My Fifteen Thousand Hours of Fame

You know you’re a celebrity when…

-People trade bits of information about you like facts on a baseball card. Competing for who knows your father’s name or what you ate for breakfast.
-Any physical ailment you acquire is pored over, every big (however personal) event is widespread knowledge, and people ask questions (about your recent whereabouts or market purchases) to which they already know the answers.
-Attention is easily thrown your way. You are constantly on the brink of close observation, judgment and being juicy gossip material. Any development from a loud laugh, to a speaking mistake, to a new outfit, and all present company leans in to be a part of the action.
-Your simple presence turns anything into an event. You sitting down turns an empty mat into a swarm of children. Your drinking tea turns a quiet conversation into a celebratory atmosphere. Doing what the locals do daily is magically interesting. Your hand is shaken for going to the fields, you’re exclaimed over for buckets on your head and henna on your feet.
- People pay 100UM to have a picture taken with you by the local photographer.
-In general, you sense an undercurrent of attention always on you. Eyes and ears are seemingly everywhere, felt in people repeating things you said or did. The idea of privacy feels like a distant memory.