You are thinking "But, you aren't that tall." You are correct I'm not that gargantuan compared to other men although the percentage of men who are taller than me is less that 3.2%, but here's the thing-I. AM. NOT. A. MAN. How many WOMEN do you know that have a 36" inseam? It would be really nice to buy a pair of pants in a store. Who wear size 13 shoes? Yes, you read that right 1 ten and 3 ones put together. Oh those super cute fashionista shoes I just saw my friend wearing? Once, just once I would like to copy her and go grab myself a pair. Also, just because you are tall doesn't mean you are BIG. My bare shoulders from straps falling down in the summer can attest to that. I could continue with my clothing woes, but you don't want to read my neverendinglist of non-feminine/too expensive/wahwahwah blubbering. My mother never put up with it-forcing me to travel to stores 5 hours from home to find clothes or ordering half the inventory from a potential catalog just to return the unfit merchandise, so you shouldn't have to listen for that long either.
Speaking of the mom in my life the 5' 4" superstar always has made sure I "embraced my height" even when I spat back venom of her having no idea what it was like to stand out in a crowd. Oh, wait. She's that little person beside the man who's 6' 10". She has an idea of what it is like to stand out and her personality loves it. I have grown (*pun*) to accept being taller than most of the population. I know 1oneuno girl who is taller than I am. I have strangers ask me how tall I am, what it's like, how tall are my parents, do I play volleyball yada yada I could go on. This doesn't bother me. I like talking to people, but sometimes when I go out in public with my family it would be nice to not have eyes on us 94% of the time. I can see you posing behind my brother while your friend takes a picture with her smartphone. What would you do if I walked up to you and snapped a picture?
Then come the sports questions. Because I am tall I must not only be obsessed with sports, but I must also possess a natural talent that other's don't have. I have mixed emotions about how my parents handled my sports upbringing. Mixed emotions that will be discussed at a later date. I can say that I am happy with where I am at this point in my life and that things happen for a reason. As cliche as that sounds it is true. Had I been raised differently I probably wouldn't be making a difference in countless lives between molding 5 year old brains and reigning in 19 year old ball players.
I stand out as a leader. I'm a gracefully clumsy goofball. I'm a practical joker who's not good at sneaking around so I use my leader status to use other people to orchestrate my ideas--jessieowens, laceyeaster, katelyndavis. I'm unique. I've learned to love it.
But, when I make a comment about standing out don't come back with the "I know how you feel" unless you are part of the 0.7% that sets me apart.
Rant=over.
And if you don't understand the BFG acronym look it up and then read the book!
