Tall Tales

How tall are you? Does it matter?

Not much you can do about it. You can change the color of your hair or get fat or change your gender but you can’t change your height.

You can wear heels or flats but you can’t change your height.

Other than skin color, you height just comes with the package. It will become awkward when riding the roller coaster or dancing cheek-to-cheek.

Nicknames like “Shorty” or “Shrimp” or “Stretch” may be descriptive but then there is a growth spurt (around puberty).

The average size becomes the normal height and a slight variation to keep the clothing racks filled with different sizes.

When going to the doctor your height would be measured. When you go to school your height would be measured. When you joined a team your height would be measured. When you got drafted your height was measured. When you got married, it didn’t matter.

My family used to mark on the inside of the kitchen door jam the boy’s height every year. Little pencil lines with a date and name to show our growth rate. My brother’s was much higher than mine.

Then the pants got shorter and the sleeves didn’t reach my wrist.

Those pencil marks in the doorway were never painted over and sold with the house.

Wonder if they were erased or added to?