"Oh my gosh, you're so tall!"
These are the first cringeworthy words I hear 99% of the time I meet someone new. As if I hadn't realised I was 6ft 1" by the age of 15.
I was the lanky teenage girl in the school yard that wasn't incontrol of my flailing limbs. I bent my knees and stooped whilst standing next to my girlfriends so that I could hear them from my head in the clouds and to try and blend in to the point where I gave myself permanent spinal problems. I've also been on the receiving end of nicknames such as 'baby giraffe' and 'tall ball' (a play on my surname).
When people meet me the first thing that they notice my height. To put it into perspective, I'm taller than all the Victoria's Secret models, two inches taller than Gisele Bundchen and the same height as Miranda Hart. My legs (as one of my former patients one told me) really do "go all the way up". I frequently get asked, "are you a model?". My answer usually is "I've dabbled". Truth is I've never really pursued it whole heartedly.
Shoe shopping is one of my least favourite past times. "Do I buy flat shoes that make my clown sized feet look even bigger or do I purchase heels that make me even taller" I ask myself every time. No girl wants to be the tallest person in the room. Shops still stock very few size 8 shoes, particularly flattering flats for larger feet so I usually come away with either a pair that are too small for my massive feet or empty handed.
My 36" legs mean that I have to go to the dreaded 'tall' section to purchase my clothes. Clothes shopping has improved significantly in the last decade for us giant folk. Being "model" height means that normal length trousers look like crop trousers on me.
Other tall problems include; sitting on buses, trains, in the back of cars and on aeroplanes. Luckily I'm quite flexible so I could throw my legs behind my neck in order to squeeze into these cramped situations.
As an adult I have come to accept my height despite my rant. I no longer slouch, I look after my back and I know that my height makes me 'unique'. I don't need to use a step to reach things off the highest shelf, I can breathe fresh air when in a crowd of people as most people are a head shorter than I am and admittedly my legs are pretty great.
However, if you come up to me and comment on my height I may be inclined to hit you with one of my oversized clown shoes!
Ax
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