Are you nervous in the presence of celebrities? Would you feel awkward if President Bush came to your house for lunch today? Are there people around whom you are very selfconscious?

There is a famous story about a woman who goes into an ice cream store. Suddenly she recognizes that Robert Redford is also buying ice cream in that store. The woman is on the verge of swooning with ecstasy, but she is determined to remain calm. She does not want to disgrace herself or invade her favorite movie star's privacy.

So she buys a cone and departs without saying anything. Gaining her composure outside the store she realizes that, while she has her change, she's missing her icecream cone.

She goes back in to claim what is rightly hers. "I didn't get my icecream cone," she says with as much dignity a…