I am 19 years old and I am 4 foot 9 inches tall. For the longest time, I would not even admit that. However, I have come to realize that I am just fine the way God created me and that is nothing to be ashamed of. All of that said, I am well aware of how short I am.
Here are just a few things that I and many others who are not the tallest around are sick and tired of, as told by the sass-master herself, and fellow short person, Kourtney Kardashian.
1. "Awe, you are so little and cute!"
I don't know about you, but the last thing that I want as a 19 year old is someone (who is usually my age) telling me that I am cute. Calling an adult "cute" is patronizing and it is certainly not a compliment.
2. "How do you drive? How do you reach the pedals? Can you see over the steering wheel?"
People who are short can still lead normal lifestyles, contrary to popular belief. Sure, I have to make some adjustments to my seat, but I can reach the pedals just fine and I can plainly see over the steering wheel.
3. Being used as a rest for you to lean on.
There have been countless occasions in which I have been standing in a group of people, and someone takes it upon themselves to take their elbow and lean on my shoulder, or worse, on my head. This usually happens with guys, so maybe they find it to be a charming thing to do. However, I do not find it to be charming, I think it's rude. I'm not a piece of furniture for you to take a rest on, I am a person.
4. Forcing me to stand up to compare our height differences.
I do not need to be a Psych major to understand the motivation here. Showing everyone how tall you are compared to me is a nice ego booster, I get it. For the shorter person though, it's just another occasion for unwanted attention about being short.
5. Saying repeatedly how tall you feel compared to me.
People usually say this with a smile and usually in the same patronizing way that they call me "cute." Again, I know that this is about your own confidence issues and insecurities, and not about making me feel bad. For what it's worth, I'm glad my height makes you feel better about yourself. Still, if you could just give it a rest, that would be great.
6. "Have you gotten shorter?"
For anyone who is already painfully short, there are no words harder to hear than these. Personally, I used to go to extreme measures to try to make myself taller. I went to doctors, I tried doing stretches and hanging upside down to gain a few inches. No, I have not gotten shorter.
7. "Are you a legal midget?"
I barely have words for this one. Are you kidding me? Who asks this kind of stuff?
8. "Quit walking so slow! Keep up, little legs!"
Perhaps you should just slow down and leave my "little legs" out of it. It's not a race, here.
9. "I bet you could order off of the kids' menu."
Let me be clear-- being short does is not synonymous with immaturity. Restaurants do not care if you are short, if you are an adult, you order off of the adult menu. But thank you, again, for making me and my height a spectacle.
10. "Elementary students are taller than you!"
That is excellent for them. I'm not sure why you are so excited about it, but good for them. I'm sure you know that I am aware that there are many young kids that are taller than me and it is not breaking news.
11. "Awe, your feet don't touch the floor!"
Again, this is just patronizing me. I know that my feet don't touch. There have been times that I have tried to finagle the way that I'm sitting so that my feet will touch and I've only made myself uncomfortable.
12. "You should marry a tall guy so your kids won't be tiny."
Thank you for the concern about the height of my future children.
13. "Wow, you don't look your age. You could pass for 12!"
I'm not sure how anyone could think that this isn't an insulting thing to say. I am an adult. Being short doesn't mean I look like a child, it just means I look like a short adult.
14. "Wow, you are so short."
This one takes the cake. Short people do not walk around oblivious to how short they are. Again, I am well aware that I am short. Thank you for the reminder.
All in all, there are a lot of challenges that come with being short. A lot of times, it can be truly frustrating to have your biggest insecurity constantly brought up one way or another. But I am proud of who I am and I wouldn't change anything about myself, even my height.
