If you know me in real life, you know that I am 6’1″ tall.  And it’s also likely that you know that my dear husband, Frank, is 6’9″ tall. For those of you on the other side of the world using the fabulous metric system, that is a LOT of centimeters/meters.  Believe me. I’m too lazy to go over to Google and figure out the exact numbers, but it’s huge.

And so, without further ado, here are three things about being tall:

thing #1: Yes, I am Tall.  

Every day, everywhere I go, someone asks me about my height.  How tall are you? Where do you find your pants?  Did you play basketball? How’s the weather up there? Are your parents tall? (feels like a thinly veiled attempt to suggest that I might be a freak show… just sayin’….)

If Frank and I go out together, it’s mass hsyteria.  We’ve watched small children walk into walls staring at us.  Entire tables of people will turn their heads – especially if we are out with another normal-sized couple because they just enhance our tallness.

We were at a bar once and a guy actually REACHED DOWN AND LIFTED UP MY PANT LEG to see if I was wearing heals.  WHO DOES THAT? Apparently that dude does it.

My lovely friend Eve said, “Well, it’s just people trying to connect – albeit ineptly…” and I can see where she’s coming from.  But, whatever happened to inane comments on the weather or the local sports team?? I can totally dish on the Blackhawks with the best of ’em…

thing #2: Tall People Need Clothes, Too.

If I walk into one more store with a petites section, I am going to lose my brain.

Seriously. You can cut things shorter, but you can’t cut them longer. Tall people need clothes, too.  And cute clothes.  Not the stuff they sell at Tall Girl or Big & Tall Men’s stores. Legit nice clothes.  Frank went over to a Big & Tall store, hoping to find a pair of dockers that he could TRY ON and BUY, but everything in his length (37″ inseam) was in a 76″ waist. And I know – there’s a ton of stuff available online, but do you know how annoying it is to buy something, pay for shipping, wait for it to arrive, find out it’s not your size and then ship it back, waiting for the next item to come in – ugh – it could be almost a month before you get your clothes!  I would love to know what it’s like to walk into a store, find pants that are long enough and walk out with said pants.

I will say that I’ve become a better shopper and have found a few stores that have a few sizes/items that work, but it’s few and far between.

thing #3: Tall People are People, Too!

I know that I am tall and that in arranging groups of people for pictures that it is easier to put me in the back row.  And I try not to stand in front of short people in church because, man, it must be annoying to not be able to see.  But, just because I’m tall, doesn’t mean that I don’t have feelings too! Standing next to me and saying, “Wow, I feel short!” or trying to subtly walk next to me so that your friends can determine how much taller I am than you or asking me to get something from the top shelf at the supermarket when I am CLEARLY not an employee of said supermarket, is rude.

So, as in most life situations, the golden rule is always best: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

And hey, I say all of this as a person who has put her foot in her own mouth frequently.  I try to always respond nicely and kindly to others commenting on my height because that is the grace I would like shown to me. But, in the meantime, this is what it is like to be tall and if you find yourself walking up to a tall girl to ask her if her parents are tall (with the unsaid “or are you just a freakshow who had too many growth hormones in her milk?”), maybe you’ll think twice and complement her on her hair instead.

Thanks for reading!