I always feel like someone is watching me

Can you imagine sitting outside of Uptown Café or Malibu Grill on a nice, sunny afternoon enjoying lunch with friends, when all of a sudden about 10 strange men and women begin taking pictures of you. What about opening a magazine to find a picture of yourself laying out in your backyard or walking down the street but you had no idea anyone was taking your picture.\nDon't you think flashbulbs in your face would get a little old? I do. The thought of photographers following me around, makes Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" play on repeat in my head. I have a friend who thinks it would be amazing to be a celebrity and have her picture taken hundreds of times a day wherever she went. But me, I enjoy my privacy.\nIf I was in that position, you would definitely see me on VH1 "All Access: Celebrities v. Paparazzi." for running over some photographer in my souped-up Range Rover. Later I might visit him in the hospital, but only to take pictures of him as he lay in his body cast. \nSure the freelance paparazzi photographers take the pictures on their own, however, if there wasn't such a high demand for the pictures they might not go to such extreme measures to get a picture of Britney Spears picking her nose. You see, we the American people, are the ones who are partly responsible for the paparazzi's mission to catch all the candid moments of these celebs. We are the ones who pay four dollars for an Us Weekly or People Magazine, to see Paris Hilton's thong hanging out. (Note: Did you ever think to pay three or four dollars to see some random girl with her thong hanging out at Sports or Bluebird? She may not be Ms. Hilton but she is just as a classless. Just a thought.\nWith the recent car accident involving Lindsey Lohan getting run off the side of the road by some crazy paparazzi man, I am beginning to think our culture is way too obsessed with celebrities and their lives.\nGalo Cesar Ramirez is the man the police arrested crashing his minivan into the side of Lohan's Mercedes Coupe. This is what I want to know: how exciting or interesting is a picture of Lindsey driving down a street in Beverly Hills? Interesting enough to wreck your car into hers and get charged with a felony, Mr. Ramirez? \nPeople like Ms. Lohan and others are famous and put themselves in the limelight. But does that mean they should put in situations where their lives are on the line when driving from point A to point B? No, I didn't think so. \nYes, celebrities are getting paid millions of dollars to be out in the public and get their picture taken. By no means am I saying that they shouldn't have their pictures taken. However, to some point their privacy should be respected.\nBill Gates makes billions of dollars and he is an American icon, yet you don't see the bloodsucking paparazzi chasing him around. Why? Because his life isn't interesting. But what makes celebs like Jessica Simpson, Ben Affleck or Nicole Kidman interesting? Upon examination, I think most would find celebs to be fairly uninteresting or no more interesting then you and me. \nThey do the same exact things you do, day in and day out. They eat meals, go to the bathroom, hang out with friends and family, go shopping, go clubbing and occasionally break the law... but what American citizen doesn't do that stuff? Think about it next time you see a picture of your favorite celeb sipping on a Starbucks Frappacino and you think to yourself, "I had one of those this morning." You've hit the jackpot; you've realized that the same mundane things you do everyday (and no one cares about) are the same as your favorite celebrity does. \nYou have to wonder how skewed American's priorities are if we insist on knowing every time Tom Cruise makes a partner change, instead of focusing on issues that truly affect our lives. \nIf the numerous photos of these fresh faces weren't enough, now we have Web sites like www.msn.com and www.cnn.com devoting a whole section to the dramas of these over-paid celebrities. In the gossip section of the MSN Web site June 8 it says, "With all the horrible things going on in the world -- war, poverty, another season of 'According to Jim' -- it's almost a comfort to hear about a good old-fashioned celebrity feud."\nI would never want my personal tiffs with my friends to be plastered all over the internet and I doubt these stars want that either. But if you don't like people in your personal business, why would you think it would be okay to exploit celebrities and their personal lives? \nSome might argue that celebrities use the media and photographers when they have a movie to promote, a comeback to make, or a new tell-all book to sell. Then the celebs will work the media circuit like Tara Reid works the club scene. It's okay if the relationship between the media and stars is based on using one another to get ahead or make a quick buck or two. The point is a happy medium needs to be reached on taking pictures of celebs, no ones lives should be put in danger. Celebrities are people too, so give them some damn privacy.