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Sunday, October 20, 2013

Look up, look waaaay up

It was good to talk to someone who knew exactly how I felt and what I go through on a daily basis.
By no effort on our part, we were brothers of sorts as we face similar issues and challenges.
You see, I am 6'4” tall. Being tall has many advantages such as being able to see over a crowd – my personal favourite - or being able to reach things in high places.
When you are tall, certain things are expected of you. I have changed more lightbulbs in my lifetime than most could even imagine .
Of course there are also hazards to being height enhanced. I have bonked my head more times than I can possibly count.
Just the other day my noggin took a hit as I walked into the open back door of our mini-van.
I was busy loading stuff into the rear compartment of the van, and my watch-out-for-things-that-you-can-hit-your-head-on radar was temporarily down when I stepped forward and whammo – mini-van to the cranium.
Having rattled my brain time and again, I am instantly angry when it happens. It is just an automatic reaction. I admit it is not the best reaction, but I have never claimed to be perfect.
I have also hit my head on the top of door frames, on tree branches, a steel clothesline post (that one hurt) and have taken out more than one chandelier by simply standing up from a dinner table.
The destroying of chandeliers was mostly when I was younger. I grew 10 inches in eight months and was not used to my new height so I developed the habit of looking up before I stood up from any table.
It is a habit I have to this day.
So at my friend's birthday party this summer it was nice to talk with two brothers of the tall who were both a couple inches higher than I am.
We spent a few minutes comparing notes – and forehead scars. We talked about bashing our heads, reaching things without a step stool, about people asking 'How ya doing Stretch?' and of course, changing light bulbs.
I can't talk to my wife about such matters because she is only 5' tall. In the 25 years we have been married, she has bonked her head only a couple of times and it annoyed her each time.
Welcome to my world. 
It is always strange to run in to someone who is taller than I am as it is an odd feeling to look up to someone when I talk to them.
I am just not used to it. That is why I have suggested to my wife we take in the tall people's convention put on by Tall Club International.
Men have to be at least 6'2” and women 5'10” to become a member. (My dad, mom and sister all qualify.)
It would be interesting to be one of the shorter people in the room for a change.
For some reason, my wife has expressed no interest in attending the gathering  even when I suggested we could then attend a little people's convention and she could walk around feeling tall.
Again, she declined the proposition.
My wife's family is, how shall put this – vertically challenged. They are not a large people. My family on the other hand is like the land of the giants. 
The men are tall, the women are tall – everyone is tall. 
My dad's side comes from Germanic decent, while my mom's kin have a Nordic bloodline. Vikings are not known to have been of small stature.
My children however are neither tall, nor short, but slightly above average.
I am not saying it is better to be tall, short or anything in between. It's just the way it is and you are who you are.

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