Steven Tyler

My girlfriend and I were walking down the street in Chicago near the corner of Oak and Michigan last Saturday night when we saw Steven Tyler, the lead singer from Aerosmith, hanging out in front of one of those bars they probably wouldn't let us in because we're not cool enough. He was just standing there in a leather jacket and jeans, talking to Julie. I know her name is Julie because she said, "Hi, I'm Julie!" to him as we walked past.

This was the first time I had ever seen a really famous person out on the street. When I was 11, I ran into the wrestler Brett "The Hitman" Hart in the Detroit airport. He autographed my boarding pass, the part they keep when you get onto the plane. Sigh. I had always wondered how I would react if I saw someone else famous on the street. I would like to think that I would just leave them alone, or at most say hello, because I feel that they deserve their privacy as much as I do.

We discussed what we would say to him if we felt like going up and introducing ourselves. I thought I could tell him that he hasn't made a good album since Pump. Rebecca thought she would say that she went to the same high school as his daughter Liv, although not at the same time. But we walked past without saying anything.