No hugs, please

There are so many scenarios when hugging people taller than you just doesn’t work out.

 

Image Source- https://www.pinterest.com/pin/517139969688293297/

Image Source- http://allthingsgirlyandbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/50863642509

The images of hugs above are cute for people in relationships. It’s nice to feel wrapped up in someone’s arms that you care about. However, when you are hugging friends, family, or even acquaintances, it feels a little different.

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Everyone can relate to this in some way. When you are hugging a tall person, your face is all up in their stomach, and if they did not drop their hand down, they would be hugging air. For the tall person that is being hugged, I have always wondered how they felt about having a face pushed into their stomach.

The one thing I advise against doing to short people is picking them up. Unless you are my very best friend or we are dating, don’t pick me up. I am not a doll. I am a person. 

Girls, when you are hugging other females, watch you chest! It is awkward and annoying to have your face touch another girl’s boobs. I cannot tell you how many times this has happened to me. If you are tall and have a chest, try one-armed or side hugs.

Here in Atlanta, mostly at my school, I have seen people wearing shirts or holding signs that say “Free Hugs” on them. I thought they were just being funny, but it is an actual thing. The Free Hug Campaign tells the story of how a small act can go a long way for someone.

I bet if I was wearing a “Free Hugs” shirt or sign that said it, I would get a lot more hugs than average size people. For some reason people love hugging short people. I think this picture on the right perfectly explains the reasoning behind it.

I don’t want to suffocate in someones chest and I don’t really care to be pressed into someones stomach either, so I would advise individuals to just giving short people one-armed hugs around the shoulder.

Signed,

Shorty Stuff

 

Always Looking Up

There may be a lot of draw backs to being short, but I love who I am and being the size that I am. There is always a bright side to most situations, so instead of moaning and groaning about the problems short people have, I will name a few reasons why I love being short.

• I think my absolute favorite thing about being short is that I can’t reach the floor when I am sitting down. Why? Because I love swinging my legs. I don’t bounce my legs like I see a lot of average height or tall people do. (Even if I wanted to, I can’t reach the floor!) You may think I look silly swinging my legs, but I don’t care because it’s fun.

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• For short girls like me, heels are our best friends. We can wear them whenever we want, whoever we are with, and no matter the heel size.

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• We will look younger longer and get an ego boost whenever we get carded going out.

• Did you know short people can navigate their way through a crowd more easily than those taller than us? Since, we probably can’t see what’s going on ahead of us, we can just squeeze through the gaps between people which can be more recognizable from a lower angle than a higher one.

• We can fit just about anywhere. YOU may have to push the seat back when you get in a car, but I have lots of room to stretch. YOU may be squished sitting between two people in a small place like a car or plane, but I am not.

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• When you are short, it is impossible to outgrow your clothes vertically. If anything, they are still big on you. I have tried on clothes that were made for petite people, like myself, and they were still long! When you go to big department stores, the petite section has clothes made more for older people so rarely do I even go in that section. I would rather get big, yet cute clothes from the junior department, then ugly ones. I can just go back and adjust them to my size later! There are stores that are more friendly to short people. One of the stores that I go to for pants is my local Forever 21 at Lenox. They have my size and add “short” or “long” on the tag for whatever length I need– which is short. Forever short.

These are just some of the reasons I love being short. Do you have examples of why you love being your height? Good! Always find the positive.

Love,

Short Stuff

Peek-A-Boo

Us shorty’s have another problem, and that is always playing Peek-A-Boo in public. I suppose that it can be hard to see us, and when we do get notices, people say, “Oh, I didn’t even see you there”, even though I was standing in the same spot for a while. There have been plenty of instances when I “play” Peek-A-Boo.

When I am driving in anyone’s car, I pray that the car has the automatic seat adjusters, because I like to see where I’m driving.

When I drive, I feel as though I look like:

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OR

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Most people use pillows or books to booster themselves up; however, did you know there actually is a pillow designed for that? It’s really cheap and in Atlanta, these wedged pillows can be found at Walmart.

Is it sad that I have scared people because they didn’t see me standing next to them? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hide right next to you.

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Then, there is that pesky problem of visiting people who use peep holes. I don’t want them thinking I’m playing ding dong ditch with them because they can’t see me through the hole, so I take a couple steps back just in case. But when someone knocks on my door, I either have to bring a chair (it’s an old rolling chair) with me so I can look through it or just blindly open the door to greet whoever is there.

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I feel like I should say Peek-A-Boo when I am standing on my tippy toes to see over the counter in some stores. I applied for a job a few years ago at a cute little cafe. I walked in happy and spoke to the manager to introduce myself. I went to pass him the application over the counter and realized that I probably wouldn’t get the job because the counter came up to my neck.  I guess they don’t want short people working there. It’s okay since I found a job that does not discriminate against vertically challenged people.

Sincerely,

Short Stuff 

A Little…Further

Please, don’t get me started on people telling me how much they wish they were my height. How being short is the perfect height. Now, I will agree that being short has many advantages and I love being the height I am because of those advantages; however, being short has some draw back. One of those draw backs is not being able to reach things. Here are a few prime examples of how my height has let me down.

I have had a few times…okay, I’ve had several times when I look just like this picture climbing the kitchen counter to reach the top shelf. It’s sad yet funny that I, and apparently this girl, can stand up fully on a counter and still not get close to hitting the ceiling.

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Today, I volunteered at the Atlanta Public Library organizing and shelving books. I got to a book that was on the top shelf, and as I was looking up to see where I could squeeze the book in at, and man walked past me saying, “how are you going to reach up there?” I laughed it off, because he was just being funny, but I was actually contemplating how I was going to get that book up there without dropping it on my face or climbing the old shelves. Thankfully, once I stood on my tippy toes, I was able to shove the book in its place, but barely. I feel like I should carry a stool with me as much as I carry my phone with me, so all the time. I thought about buying one at my local Michael’s and decorating it myself, but I like the cute and portable ones they have at my local Bed Bath and Beyond.

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And let’s not forget about when I go to the store and need things from the top shelves. I am embarrassed to say that I have been caught trying to climb to shelves to reach things. In my defense, if someone was there that was tall enough to help, I would have asked them for help first.

Always,

Short Stuff

Not Again!

There are people who always stand out in crowds whether it be because of their hair color, their clothes, or more often their height. You know those really tall people who you can’t help but notice? Yeah, that’s not me. I’m on the other side of that spectrum. Despite that fact that our appearances are all different, there is always someone who thinks it is necessary to comment on them. Being someone under five feet tall, there are a lot of things that get said to me that are very aggravating. The most common phrases heard as a short person is: “How tall are you?” Seems like an innocent question, right? WRONG! Especially when you don’t know the person or ask for their name. My thoughts consist of, “Why do you care how tall I am? What does my height have to do with you?” I know it’s harsh, but when the same question get asked to you, it starts to wear on your nerves.

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Another phrase that I hear a lot is (drum-rolls please): “Awe…you’re so little!” Not again! I am not a child, so please don’t talk to me like one. I can only speak for myself; however, I would assume that most of us vertically challenged individuals know that those people are being nice. The draw back to that comment is that it is belittling. When an adult “awe’s” at another adult about something like height, it is as if that adult awed at a baby or a puppy dog. I am neither. I am an adult who happens to be short. Also, telling someone that they are “little” is like saying the sky is blue. Duh! I know that I am short just like I know the sky is blue on a sunny day.

Some people will read this and say, “She is really sensitive about her
height” or “You mad or nah?” The answer is yes and no. Of course when I hear these phrases, I take it good natured and smile. Just understand that if you meet an individual who happens to be short, whatever you do, do not let the first couple of sentences out of your mouth be one of those two phrases, because on the inside we are screaming NOT AGAIN!

P.S. This post connects the same way with tall people, too. They know that they are tall and probably get bothered with how tall they are just as much a short people do.