Ha, try living in a small town. Everyone knows everyone and you meet teachers all over the place. In fact, I was always meeting my old students all over the shop. I don't mind that, but I do always slightly cringe when I bump into the nurse who put a stitch in my cervix (or somewhere round there) after I had ds. 
Lalsy, I am trying to roll with the (currently not literal) punches with dd. She had a very up and down week last week, with a lot to take on board, both at school and medically, but she actually seemed quite cheery and sensible by Friday. She is finding the timetable with just 3 A2 subjects much easier to deal with and so far (touch wood) is actually enjoying French. She is also having driving lessons. And is grudgingly exchanging a few words now and then with dh. She is still dejected about having had to drop chemistry because it limits her choice of university courses, but she will just have to come to terms with that and learn that particular lesson. (i.e. make poor choices and stuff up more or less on purpose and you may well find out that there are unavoidable consequences) Early days and all, but last week could have gone a lot worse.
I have always found Billy Bragg intensely irritating and I find him a lot more irritating now that he lives in the same constituency - one of the Toryest Tory shires - and is always huffing and puffing telling us how to vote. He makes me come over all reactionary; I can't help myself.