The Spectator The independent student newspaper of Valdosta State University
Let’s face it, being short bites. If you happen to be short, you know. If you happen to be tall, you probably laugh at us for breaking things at WalMart trying to climb up to the top shelf. You sit in front of us at the movies, obliviously blocking our overpriced view with your oversized head. You get served first at the bar, and then you drip your drinks on us. Tall people have all the luck.
And now, in addition to every advantage height affords them, statistics say tall people are more likely to receive college degrees and tend to report higher levels of happiness. Remember those inspirational sayings from elementary school? “Size doesn’t matter,” “Good things come in small packages,” “Better to be small than not at all,” Lies. All lies.
Short people are less likely to graduate from college than their taller classmates and earn less money than their taller counterparts, at least according to a recent New York Times article by Daniel Engber who cites data published in the journal “Economics and Human Biology.”
Seriously? Seriously.
Adding insult to injury, short people report lower levels of happiness than tall people and have been reported to die at a younger age, at least according to a recent article by Sean Gregory on Time.com which cites information from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
So where does that leave short people? Stuck at the short end of the stick, without a college degree? Hell no.
These stats are nothing more than a challenge to short people, to short students everywhere. It is a challenge to not buy into bullshit ideas like limiting yourself in terms of your stature.
The way I see it, these stats are a cry for help. Researchers have run out of legitimate things to target people for in their endless quest for the ‘normal’. Any college dropout can tell you that height hasn’t got a hell of a lot to do with anything, except how well you can wear capris.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1913256,00.html#ixzz0dCUbdOfP
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/magazine/18fob-essay-t.html
All is relative. Yes, it is harder for shorter men to get good looking girls, but not impossible. And the college degree thing, come on, I can probe you wrong: I am 5’3″, and I have a Bachelor in Electronics Eng, a Master in Electrical Eng, and I’m working in my PhD now. A lot of things depend on you, making the best with what you have.
Whatever. I’m proud to be short. I just started illustrating a series about why it’s better to be short than long.
http://chipperthings.com/ratherbeshort/
I just happen to be a short guy and feel that i have been treated quite bad through out my life so far.Being only 4’10 and 19 it is not much of a height.I did not realise that i was short till i was 10 it seemed all my friends were growing upwards all the time.I must have been about 4’7 when i went to high school and apart from 2 other boys we were the shortest out of them all.There obviously was a couple of girls as well.We were getting my uniform for the new school and most of it was quite long even the blazers.When i started high school i looked a right state has my trousers when all taken up even the blazer.The white shirt was not too bad has we got them from the junior clothes section.After than all my clothes came from there i was 13 and my clothes were 8/9 where they fitted better in the legs.In p.e the other kids laughed when they noticed the sizes even with my shoes they were small as well.By the age of 16 my height was 4’10 and i never grew another inch.Apparently i got my height from my dad has he is 5’2 and mum is 5’5.I have cousins that are age 9 that are my height already.I do abit hard done by has i may be the shortest out of us all.There is James who is 18 and he is 5’0 that is the only one i think.I have been known to knock things down in the shops to get what i want.Now i dont mind that guys are taller what annoys me is the fact they walk straight ahead without looking to see if there is someone shorter.I have been shoved and pushed for being in the way.On the train in the mornings i will have to endure taller people talking over my head on a packed train.Someone trying to read a paper and knocking me on the head.They are so inconsiderate.Sometime worse things.
I am glad to have the chance to read about the way it is when your short. Yet there are always two stories to it. Hear I am 27 and 6’1 yes I am a girl. I have ben 6’1 since 8th grade, being the tallest in my family all of witch is 5’5 or shorter. It was hard fiting in, finding men that make me feal small and girly is hard to do for I am about as tall as the guys in town if not taller. I dont fit any women or girls pants for they dont make them long enuf for me unless I go to the big and tall shops where all the cloths look like drapes. I have to special order my shoes the local stores hold normaly one or two pairs in my size and they are always the most ugly things (size 12 women). So ya being short does sound like a pain but being tall is as well. I would love to give you a few inches of my hight so I can shop and date like some one that is short.
I cant think of many things are are good with being short.I mean the only time i reach 5’0 is with my high shoes on.I am 22 and 4’9 i have a 26 yr old brother who is 5’5 and my 18 yr old sister who is 5’7.I know why i am short it doesnt take much working out my dad is 5’5 and my mum is 4’11.I have a grandmother who is 4’10.I knew from the startoff that i was going to be short has i was always a few inches shorter than my classmates.My uniform always had to be altered buying clothes meant going to the junior section in shops.I still do to this day has i dont have to have them altered too much.Most of the clothes from there are okay for my size.My shoes on the other hand are only a size 12 so i have to buy childrens shoes.I dont like the asking people to reach things in shops i dont like the name calling i dont like the nicknames i dont like the patting on my head has i walk past i dont like the people trying to measure themselves up against me to see if they are taller or not of course you are.I am about the height of an average 10 yr old so leave it out and stop hassling me.I know that when i find my own house things will have to be lowered to accommodate me i dont care if people dont like it but i wouldnt get much use oit of cupboards too high up or if light switches are high.I get enough with people pushing past me and saying sorry i didnt see you take time to adjust your eyeline and then maybe you will see us shorter people.I have been hurt on a number of occassions when people arent looking where they are going so please be abit more accodating for us.
I was really confused, and this answered all my qusteions.
I fully understand the pain of being short i stand at 4’9 and i am 38 yrs old now.I am the shortest in my family with the tallest being 5’5.Being the oldest has meant me having to watch my younger brother Tony reach the height of 5’0 while my sister who is 30 she grew to 5’3.My mum used to check our heights on our birthdays we all had a seperate chart but they were hung next to eachother.My mum used to write our ages on the charts.Between me and Tony i was 2 years older than him and 8 years older than Kirsty.While growing up i remember family members saying oh Nat you had better be careful Tony is catching you up.I think it was about 10 and Tony was 8 he was level with me in height.I had reached my full height aged 14 we had to do a mesurement in our height this was all children in my year.There was about 120 of us and i was one of the shortest boys.There was 2 other boys my age and they were only 4’5 and 4’6 they were always acting like they were hard and picking on people.Then the girls had to do the same but kick off their shoes there was 5 short girls no taller than 4’6.To be embarrassed even more the girls lined up short to tall in a line and us boys had to stand behind them.I was slightly taller than the girl in front of me which made me feel a little better about myself.Has soon has it was over the girls put their shoes back on.I think it made us shorter pupils feel better has we now knew there were other short pupils.Some of these girls and boys hadnt even been in my classes.Every start of the new year the new pupils felt it was their right to point out pupils shorter than themselves.I had pupils stick my holdall on door frames and on top of lockers making me late for classes.In our last year at school i was the same height has only one boy teachers said we always look like a pair of bookends.On sports day me and this boy was put in races with boys no taller than 5’2 to make it abit fairer.We still didnt win mind you.There was 2 short girls one was my height and the other 4’10.We had a end of school prom i was dreading it i always had trouble getting clothes in the past and felt this time would be worse.I asked a girl in my class she was 5’0 and she said yes straight away.I had a limosine booked.I sorted out a smart suit which has to be altered for me i found the best shoes which had a bit of a heel not much.The limosine came to pick me up my mum took photos of me and off i went to collect Jasmine.I knocked on her door and let in by her younger brother he was a couple of inches taller than me and took me to the living room.Jasmine came down the stairs and her dad said okay lets take a photo fo you both.Jasmine was only slightly taller has she hadnt put her shoes on yet.I felt good has now the height seemed fine.Then the shoes went on and she was now about 5’3 i think.She asked me if she should change her shoes but i said NO it was okay.We had our prom photo taken together and she was nearly 4/5 ins taller.The photographer asked her if she wanted to take her shoes off and she did.We had quite a few dances together Jasmine kept complaining how her shoes hurt so for the last 2 dances she kicked them off.This made her only a couple of inches taller than me.I have never let anything stop me from getting what i wanted and i feel good about my life.I ended up finding a group for adults with short stature and i found the woman of my dreams.I never dreamed i would ever find someone my height.This club i went to only catered for adults no taller than 5’0.I managed quite a few dates with these people and we all got on with each other.The shortest woman i dated was 4’7 even wearing shoes with abit of heel we was always the same height it was fantastic.I am now married to a woman who is my height barefooted but she likes wearing a couple of ins on her shoes so when we go out she is taller than me.Dont forget we are all the same lying down has someone once said.We are still friends with the group and meet up regularly i have a couple of really nice guys there and it is good not having to keep looking upright to speak to people.life is good.