What Tall Girls Want You To Know

I jokingly posted this on Fitness Quest's Facebook page:

 As if 5'11" isn't tall enough...😜

I'm actually "short" for a tall girl.  I can't buy a pair of pants in the store, but true "tall girl" sizing is too long for me.

Hence the discovery earlier that only one pair of jeans fit was rather scary...it's not like I can run and buy another pair.

Oh, and not only am I tall, but I have a butt.

A big butt.

And a big bun.  LIKE I'D REALLY SHOW A PICTURE OF MY BUTT.

Being 5'11", my shoulders are broader, and I'm just bigger, even though I'm a size 8.

 Which means when I sit by someone petite, I look giant.

Oh and heels?  No one wants *me* to wear them.  I'm "too tall."  Really?  Then don't wear flats.  They make you "too short."

 And frankly, I look fantastic in heels.

Then there's the inevitable topic of basketball.

Are you a jockey?

Well you're short so I just assumed....😂😂😂

Statistically, I'm taller than 99% of the women in the planet.  My arms are even longer than most tall girls, and I can easily touch an 8' ceiling.

 I bet I can touch a 9' ceiling wearing these!  Wore them on a Friday night and LOVED being 6'4"!

Lately, my single friends all seem a bit off kilter.  Whether dealing with being ghosted (the cowardly but very popular cop-out) or a date that claims to be "not ready" for exclusively dating (oh. my. word.  It's flipping dating not a marriage proposal!!!!), they (and I) are in seemingly rough waters.

To think we'd long for this!  It would be better than ghosting!!

So this tall girl wants you to know:

1. Beware stereotyping.  Just because I'm tall doesn't mean I play basketball, and just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I'll act like other women.  Yes, I'm well aware 99% apparently do crazy things, but remember, I'm not part of the 99%😇
2. Just because you have it, doesn't mean I automatically have it.  I can't buy pants or long sleeve shirts long enough in the store.  They don't exist.  Just because you're done with a relationship and walk away doesn't mean I automatically understand it--that explanation doesn't exist unless you share it.
3. I'm aware I make you uncomfortable.  So what if I'm "intimidating" in heels to you?  I'm not wearing them to do that to you...I'm wearing them because they are pretty and go with my outfit.  Likewise, my kindness and kookiness is just who I am.  If you're uncomfortable, move along.
4. No, you don't understand.  I hear from short women all the time, "Oh, I know just how you feel!  Shopping is so hard - everything is so long!"  No.  No you don't know.  You can take things in.  You can shorten length.  I CANNOT ADD FABRIC.  So while it's sweet you *think* you know, really you don't.  Guys, you *think* you know.  No, you really don't.  How about asking me about it instead of assuming?
5. Yes, it's hard.  It's hard being rejected for something you have no control over.  Men typically don't like taller women, and women are just as judgmental.  It's also hard not to feel rejected when you don't fit in tight spaces and when people behind you in a theater at Disney have an usher come over and ask you to remove your mouse ears when no one else was asked to remove theirs (sorry I'm tall.  LIKE I CAN CHANGE THAT??  I so wanted to snowflake on them!)  Being in midlife, all of us have pasts we cannot change.  What's done is done.  I get that you've been hurt.  Me, too.  But the combination of you & me?  Why not simply try it, instead of rejecting it based on your past hurts?  Did it ever occur to you that your past might be a great reason to run screaming from you?  

 

But I'm still smiling.

In the past year or so of dating since my divorce, I can honestly say you boys are just as messed up as the crazy girls out there.  Not one of you can claim to be innocent...nor would I want you to.

Your past is your past.  Your experiences.  I am cognizant that I am seen through that filter. 

The difference?

I don't filter you.

My unique height, of which I have forever been tainted with, taught me long ago to not prejudge/filter people.  Their interactions with me alone dictate my response to them.  Yes, I've been hurt-rather terribly at times-by this.

But in retrospect, I can't be any other way.  Why do I smile?

I see possibilities.

You came through hell?  Let's go find heaven.  I'm not a Jedi, I love adventure and excitement.  While repeatedly discouraged, I know the end result of the quest for love is...

Love?

My ex told me recently he didn't think he ever loved me as I loved him.  In all honesty, I loved him fiercely through all our trials until one day.  When I hit my head.

My friends say that was when I woke up.  When the veil of love was lifted and I saw the farce of our marriage.  When I stopped trying to earn his love...for truly, that had been our lives.  Never quite earning something that should have been freely given.

What does this tall girl really want you to know?

1. That she looks amazing in high heels, and even more amazing when in love.
2. That her confidence in her height has grown over the years, likewise has her confidence in who she is. While being "beautiful" is a stretch...maybe there's something to it? 
3. That she's learned to make being tall a business asset:  she's hard to forget.  Think you'll forget her if you move on?  Nope.  She'll be your Great White Buffalo.  You'll always wonder what if, and it will haunt you to your dying day (that's my worst revenge.  A history that could have been.  Only an outlier historian with a kind heart comes up with these sort of things...)
4. That being tall actually matches the outlier that she is; as she embraces a new life she's learning to relish it.  Why not love being tall?
5. That despite the negatives, the positives far outweigh them.  The 8' reach, the ability to see in a crowd.  To turn heads just by walking in a room....this is not a bad thing.  Now to figure out how best to utilize it :)

Yes, it's hard being a single tall girl in a state where most men reach only to my nose.  On the other hand, I wouldn't want it any other way.  My height weeds out those with no spine:)

Note the sleeves are just a wee too short:)

What does this tall girl want you to know?

She's happy being tall.

She's even happier knowing who she is.