being short is the norm for me. i stand at my highest point (meaning very straight & as tall as can be) at five foot zero. this is just who i am. i've never have to duck entering a plane. i fit pretty much anywhere except on deep couches were my feet dangle in mid air.
a few things bother me about how people perceive short people. i hit some in my confessions of a short girl actually. but i was thinking recently back to one certain event...
i went with three others up to new york. we were driving through manhattan into brooklyn. the driver asked another person in the car to drive - through the city. she declined. she gave a glance towards the only male in the vehicle. but, he decline with a large distain for driving in cities. i volunteer. i would say i'm quite the city driver. calm. best weaver. & not afraid to use my horn.
the owner/current driver looked questionably at me and said oh no, you couldn't possibly drive this vehicle it's to big. WTF? it was your normal sized suv. i thought she was joking, at first. then i realized this lady really doesn't think i can drive this suv because i'm short.
i lost all driving experience and capability of being behind the wheel. because i don't stretch to a normal five foot four.
ticked. me. off.
if at that point i could give a resume of all my driving experience which includes driving a excursion, land rover, suburban (i was a nanny for far too many years), and your normal sedans. a clean driving record for the past 10 years.
ends up, i switched seats and drove us safely & efficiently into manhattan's mad traffic & didn't even need a booster seat.
1 comment :
Wow. Do you mind me asking if these were friends, coworkers, etc? I'm a tad taller than you (a whole 5'1") and understand what it feels like to be the subject of ....how do I put this...."disbelief" that shorter people can/not do X Y Z.
It mostly shocks me when I hear it from family (and not in the joking way my BFF does it - she's 6'1) but genuine "you're too short" comments. Reaching the top shelf, hang a picture, etc.
I'm sorry that's what step stools are for...right?! I'm sorry you were subject to outright discrimination - it's not cool no matter what the subject matter (height, weight, gender, etc). I'm glad you took the keys and showed them who was the city-savvy woman!
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