A "short" post

Andrea, Constantinos and I were having a chat the other day and somehow the topic of height came up. Andrea is 164 cm ++ and Constantinos is 180 m, I think. Andrea said that when she was in Sixth Form apparently she was one of the shorter ones in class and then Constantinos said oh ya my mum is short, she's like 158 cm. I had an idea of where the conversation was heading next so before even waiting to be asked, I said that I was 153 cm. And my goodness they couldn't believe me. I told them about CBN, how most of us are peppered around the 152-156 cm range, that people have compared us to a flock of penguins, that I have a friend who is MY HEIGHT but thought she was 158 cm, then attempted to be realistic and settled for 156 cm instead, before finally learning the heinous truth that she is only 153 cm. I told them about how my mother is only 150 cm, my older sister is 152 cm and that shorties are no anomaly in Malaysia. Constantinos said that it's good to be short because you can bully tall people into getting things from high up shelves for you. (Andrea then proceeded to shove my instant noodles into the top most shelf of our food cabinet.)

Anyway, to put off my reading on shareholder litigation, I have compiled a list of the boons and banes of being 160 cm and under.

Advantages

1) You fall into the petite range of clothing stores, and sometimes they have things that the standard range doesn't.
2) You can buy standard/tall clothes and make the sleeves/hemlines shorter. But tallies can't buy petite clothes and make them longer.
3) You have the luxury of choosing small or big cars to drive. Tallies can only drive big cars, which also means that they have to work harder to find parking spots in warzone areas like the square opposite Ming Foong's house.
4) When in an aeroplane, it doesn't matter that you can't reach the overhead luggage compartments cos there are always taller people around to do it for you.
5) If you have a problem with being short, wear heels to give yourself a lift. But tall people who have a problem being tall have no way out... unless they like walking on their knees.

Disadvantages

1) In crowded areas you're always fighting for air.
2) If it has been your lifelong dream to be an air stewardess or catwalk model, then you can just FORGET IT.
3) It might just be me, but I think short people are harder to be heard even if you have a loud commanding voice. When tall people speak people sit up immediately and listen. When short people speak people just think you're trying to be smart.
4) On rainy days in London, expect the worst. Everyone will bump into regardless of whether you have an open umbrella, cabbies will miss you and drench you with disgusting puddle water instead, Tube rides are nauseating, etc.
5) You can't carry off haute couture.

Weighing up both ends of the spectrum, I have to say that I'd rather be short than tall. I have to bear with armpit odour wherever I go but so what. And I suppose it's a pity that I'll never ever ever ever be the next Natalia Vodianova, but models are pressured to stay thin, smoke and eat nothing so screw that I must have my bak kut teh. Oh and most guys prefer short girls over tall girls anyway ;)