It was happening again. I was at a cocktail party wherethe hosts were people I had just met, people I wanted to become friends with, and was sipping chardonnayand nibbling papadum chips when a woman said,' \"Oh,the people next door! They're...,\" she paused and loweredher voice,\" ... Republican.\" Everyone grimaced. I stoodthere nodding, my dirty secret lodged in my throat like agolf ball.