Aretha Franklin

had an extraordinary voice. She also lived an extraordinary life but I don't think it was a very happy one.
I know a lot of people who will look no further than, "But she sold all those records. She must have been rich."
I think there is a difference between having a great deal of money and being rich. 
Yes, I know - there is nothing new in that idea.
I also think that there are a great many people like Aretha Franklin. They have managed to earn a lot of money. They apparently have crowds of adoring admirers. 
    "They should be happy" and "It must be marvellous to be like that".
No. Perhaps some of them are happy - or think they are happy. I doubt that it is marvellous.
And then there was Kofi Annan. Famous? Perhaps. Once he was out of the spotlight of being the UN Secretary General most people would have forgotten him. He had a frustrating and thankless job trying to head a largely dysfunctional organisation that achieves far less than was intended, far less than it should. He was rich - even very rich - if you compared him with many of his countrymen. Ghana is not a rich country. I doubt he saw himself as rich. I am sure he saw himself as frustrated - and he must have sometimes felt a failure when the things he tried so hard to negotiate fell apart. He was also heavily criticised at times - sometimes for decisions he did not personally make, especially when people do not understand how the UN is supposed to be run and the limitations put on him.
I was reminded of both those things when the little boy asked me, "Are you famous?"
I don't want to be famous. I'd much rather be useful.