Tuesday, May 11, 2010

size matters...

...but not as much as you think.

Aside from having to ask complete strangers to get things off the top shelf for me at the grocery store and needing to get everything hemmed, being short isn't all that bad.

17 comments:

Mad Saint Jack said...

You need to put up a warning before you link to the NYTs. I need to brace myself before I click.

Mike W. said...

being short isn't all that bad.

Perhaps not if you're a woman, but there's definitely a social stigma involved if you're a man.

Besides, you're not *that* short. I have a friend who's smaller than you.

Eric said...

I'm 6' 1", my wife is 5' even. We joke about my roles as bodyguard, "reacher of high objects" and jar opener.

Our height difference is another reason we chose revolvers as a common platform. Her hands aren't strong enough to manipulate a semi-auto and I'm recovering from "trigger finger release" surgery on my left hand.

Sigivald said...

People still think Napoleon was short, huh? In the Paper Of Record, no less!

Anonymous said...

I think I got lucky: I can sit comfortably in coach, yet fish my own stuff out of the bins.

Then again, ask women about their ideal man and I'll bet you my lunch you'll hear, "He's tall," more often than not.

Of course tall is relative.

Jim

instinct said...

I learned a long time ago that us shorter guys (I'm 5'8") have an advantage over taller guys in a fight but you have to know how to use it.

The only social stigma I have encountered being the height I am is that I suck at basketball - course, that may have nothing to do with height at all and everything to do with I have a crappy outside shot.

JC said...

My sympathies to Eric. My ex would call me at work (we had offset schedules) to locate things in the pantry. "Where's that spice that you use, I wanna try it". "In the pantry, just above MY eye level".

PPPP said...

Breda -

You have my sympathies. My mother was sick a lot as a child. So much so that she spent a lot of her growing years just staying alive - and not growing.

She topped out at 4'7". I'm the tallest in my family (father's side). Ever. 5'8". I have a picture of my grandfather and his six siblings taken about 1955 or so. He's the tall one at about 5'1".

Old NFO said...

I've always said it's the PERSON that matters, not how tall or short...

Nancy R. said...

Regarding that article: "If I have one nagging complaint, it is that tall women have a much easier time finding elegant clothes."

Baloney. *Average* women may have an easier time but pants and sleeves that hit 4" above ones ankles and wrists are far from elegant. Not that I'm bitter, or anything. *grin*

Eric said...

JC - my wife is the cook and believe me, everything she needs in the kitchen is within reach!

Fred said...

I wouldn't mind being able to easily find pants and fit in small fuel efficient cars... Being tall has some down sides too.

wrm said...

Being tall is not so great. My back aches every day. Cars are too small. Basins are too low (my kitchen counters are 6" higher than normal, in my half of the kitchen (the wife's short-ish)).

I'm 6"2. That's not really tall. But the world is built around people of a more average height.

I have a girlfriend who is short. Her nose reaches my navel (yes, we've probably made all those jokes already, shush). The world is not kind to her either.

Ah well :-)

Lissa said...

I could stand a few more inches, but that's what my stilettos are for :) For the most part I like my height; I'm way more comfy on plane flights and car trips than Mike is.

Slevin: You're not as tall as I thought you'd be.

Lindsey: Well, I'm short for my height.

Slevin: That makes sense because I can usually tell how tall someone is by their knock. You have a deceptively tall knock. Congratulations.

Cheers to folks with deceptively tall knocks!

John B said...

For You Breda, I'll reach anything off of a high shelf.

Anyone else, I'll tell him/her the object in question was placed on a high shelf for a good reason.

Nasty Grin.

Jonathan Bartels said...

I ask my shorter wife to get things off the bottom shelf for me all the time. It's fair.

Tam said...

"*Average* women may have an easier time but pants and sleeves that hit 4" above ones ankles and wrists are far from elegant. Not that I'm bitter, or anything."

Testify! :D