I’ve never had a chance to be short. With a father that’s close to seven feet tall, it was known before I was born that I was going to be tall. I don’t like to say exactly how tall I am, and most of the time I’ll lie to be a little shorter, but we’ll just say I’m hovering around (above) six foot tall. For the most part, I’ve accepted it, but there’s always moments where I would do anything to be the average 5-foot-5-inches girl.
It’s one of the first things that anyone notices about me, or about any tall girl for that matter. It’s always the first comment. “Oh, you’re so tall!”
Gee, thanks, I didn’t know.
Most of the time I’m nice about it because there’s no reason to be angry with someone making an offhand comment. There are times when I’m tired or stressed, though, that I just want to snap back with an “and you’re so short” but to my knowledge I’ve never actually done that.
I’ve had roommates and other people that I’ve met online that seem visibly shocked when they first see me in person. I’m not sure if I appear shorter online (is that possible?) but it’s always amusing (and a little heartbreaking) to see someone so surprised at my height.
There are the comments I (and I assume most other tall girls) get that are centered on basketball, sports, and modeling. I wish I was given money every time someone asked if I played basketball or volleyball because then I could use it to make up for the lack of sports scholarship I received. I’ve been known to trip over cracks in the sidewalk, too, so no, I don’t play sports.
It’s the modeling comments that are always the most annoying. Yes, I am tall. Yes, models are also usually tall (though not as tall as me). Remember that correlation does not imply causation. Just because I am tall, and models are tall, that does not mean that I can or do model. If you’re going to continue to insist that I should be a model, then please by all means find a modeling job for me.
Sure, there are positives in being able to reach things on high shelves (as well as hide things on high shelves). I can put things on top of cabinets and I can use the top of my closet daily to store things. All this added height makes accessing things close to the ground harder, though. Don’t get me started about bottom lockers in high school or storage that’s low to the ground. Stocking the coolers in one of my work locations that were two inches off the floor still gives me phantom pain.
Then there’s the obvious fact that I am taller than most of the population. This means I’m taller than my friends, my teachers in elementary school, my professors in university, and almost anyone that I’ve had a crush on. I’ve grown past the shallow assumption that I have to be shorter than whoever I date (assuming I ever date, ha) but it’s still awkward to hang out with friends when I’m almost an entire foot taller than them.
Being tall has its ups and downs. I can reach things at pretty much any height and I can intimidate people that are annoying me. I have an almost impossible time of finding clothes that are long enough, though, and I have to deal with a ridiculous amount of daily comments on my appearance that I have no control over. Would I change it, though? (Well, yeah, probably. But just a little. Like three inches shorter.)
