Almost Her: The strange dilemma of being nearly famous

By Caroline Paul

What if you weren’t famous, but people treated you as if you were? That was the life of Caroline Paul, who looked just like a celebrity – her own identical twin. With humor and insight, Paul explores the strange world of fame from the wry perspective of an ordinary person.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shebooks Publishing
• Release date: Jul 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781940838762

Caroline Paul

Caroline Paul's most recent book is Lost Cat, A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology. She is also the author of the historical novel East Wind, Rain, and the memoir, Fighting Fire, about her career as a San Francisco firefighter. Her forthcoming book The Gutsy Girl, Takes for your life of Ridiculous Adventure will be published March 1, 2016. She is a member of the San Francisco Writers' Grotto.

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Copyright © 2015 by Caroline Paul

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.

Cover design by Laura Morris

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Author photo by Chris Hardy

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It’s a full flight today, and our faces are forlorn; we limp down the aisle, shoulders slumped, bags bumping. I’m keeping my head down, watching the floor, looking up only to check seat numbers. OK, there’s my place. Slide in, sit, exhale, wait for the ding of bells, the lilt of friendly commands: Seat belts. No smoking. Flotation devices in case of. I rummage for my book.

I’m interrupted by a flight attendant. Ooh, she says, Hey. So nice to see you. Economy? Her eyebrows shoot up, quizzical. She leans forward, her blue-uniformed body passing over my seatmate, landing its shadow on me. The wink. The conspiratorial smile. I know who you are. Then the whisper: We have a better seat for you.

Um, I say, but she is already looking around, in combat mode, glancing once down the aisle, planning my escape. All her safety training is in play at this moment, eyes sweeping passengers, tray tables, open overhead bins. Meanwhile my seatmates swivel and stare. Who? Who? they wonder. If they do place me there’s no time to say anything because the flight attendant spins back, jerking her head like a Green Beret on a night mission, signaling Now.

I am led to first class. Something passes between my chaperone and her fellow attendants—a head nod, a lifted eyebrow, The Eagle has landed. They bustle toward me singing, Champagne? White linen napkin? How can we make you comfortable?

What else can I do but settle in? Make use of the legroom, say no to the wine for now, yes to the cookies, to the free headsets. No one asks me my name. That’s just not cool. But they show me they know, with smiles, nods. There’s