Being "The Tall Girl"

They say write what you know and I can definitely tell you a lot about this topic.

Being tall is not all its talked up to be. Trust me, I’m tall. And a tall girl at that. People think being tall is awesome, amazing and great to be. It is... sometimes. But, like being short, tallness also has its down sides.

Being a tall girl is rare. Well, according to shoe shops there are about 2 of us in the whole world. They usually only have about 1 or 2 pairs of size 10 or 11 and that’s it. I mean I know we’re rare but we're not that rare. These days if I see a nice pair of shoes I just give up looking for my size, because 9 times out of 10 they won’t have my size so I save myself the disappointment and don’t get attached to the shoes.

But, when they do have my size in shoes I get so excited I almost cry. Weird, I know to cry over shoes but once you take a walk in my shoes (you probably wouldn’t fit) you’ll understand. It’s like winning the lottery. Almost.

Along with shoes there is clothes shopping. I actually despise clothes shopping. Yep, I’m a girl who doesn’t like shopping for clothes. For one main reason again, they never seem to have my size or clothes that fit all the way to the ankle or all the way to the wrist. And short dresses are usually too short.

I can’t be like most girls and just grab clothes, pay and go. I need to try before I buy and go through the whole rig-ma-roll of trying them on and then changing if it doesn’t fit and getting annoyed and giving up because nothing fits right.

However, whilst attempting to shop people often approach you, firstly commenting positively on your height before kindly asking if you could reach the item they want off the top shelf /rack. But, tallness also comes in handy when grocery shopping and needing to reach something on the top shelf at the back (for yourself).

Even when describing you people refer to you as "The Tall Girl" or "The Tall One"

Being above average in height you constantly hit your head on anything that is of average height. Low hanging lights, low doorways, Low tree branches (Okay so, they can’t help how they grow). Feeling the need to duck because car park roofs are low. And even hitting your hands on the fan when getting changed (I have cut my fingers a few times).

But, let’s talk about leg room on any form of transportation. Buses, trains and planes. We don’t all have short legs but transportation companies think we do.

Buses and trains: most of the time I have to sit side ways taking up the leg room of the seat next to me and if someone needs that seat I have to sit up straight or sit in the aisle seat when my legs eventually move into the aisle.

Planes: my knees are usually pressed up against the chair in front and it doesn’t help when the person in front decides to recline their chair.

Even cars. I am often given the front seat because there’s no comfortable position in the backseat (unless you have a short-legged driver) and you can forget about me fitting in the very back of a 7 seat car.

To my next point… guys. Being taller than them is often… awkward. Everyone always sticks to the stereotype of the guy always being taller than the girl. But at 6ft 1 there really aren’t many guys who are taller or most of them are taken by much shorter girls, which does make it difficult.

Hence, the reason I barely ever wear heels, that and the fact I look like a new born giraffe trying to walk. But, sometimes I wear heels to piss off shorter people who tell me “you don’t need heels you're tall enough”. However, I don’t wear heels to be taller I wear them because I’m a lady and I freakin’ can! And ‘apparently’ (not sure how true this is) guys are often intimidated by tall girls (why? I have no idea).

But, if you’ve ever met me I am far from intimidating.

Even having photos or hugging friends who are shorter than you is awkward

And finally, the questions…

“How tall are you?” (if I had a dollar for every time I heard this)

“Do you play basketball or netball?”

“Have you ever thought about being a model?”

“How’s the weather up there?”

“Is it hard to find a tall boyfriend?”

There is always the urge for sarcasm when told statements such as “gee, you’re tall” or more specifically “gee, you’re a tall girl”. Thank you I had no idea, no one (not even my parents) have ever told me.

Basically, I am 6 ft 1, no I don’t play basketball I use to play netball, no I haven’t thought about being a model, yes I can get that off the top shelf, yes the weather is the same as down there and yes it is hard to find guys taller than me.

There you have it, a snapshot of a tall girls life.