There was a taller girl in my older son's class. When he was in 2nd grade, his teacher asked me to tell her one of the good things about being tall. I said you can reach things higher up in the cupboard. He looked at me with a kind of disappointed look. How do you tell a 2nd grader that when you were heels, it's fun to intimidate the hell out of some men? How do you tell that to the second grade teacher? Maybe the next week I should have worn heels and he might have figured it out.
So a couple of years after the 5' 8-3/8" fiasco, I went in for another annual exam. She started saying 5' 7..." something and I kind of freaked out. I told my doctor that I'd lost nearly 2" in a couple of years. She's very thorough and scheduled a dexascan (sp?) for me. I went in and a woman I know was the nurse doing the scan. She seemed a little skeptical, but I told her my sad, 2" story. She said that you had to have lost a significant amount of height before the scan would be paid for by the insurance, and she said we should double check my height. Great idea! I stood up straight and she measured me up. 5' 8-3/8".
Turns out I was slouching on my last doctor appointment. My Grandma always implied my life would come to ruin if I slouched. I guess she was right. I was nearly stuck with a $700 dexascan bill!
So what has triggered this little story? Politics. All things usually relate to a Seinfeld episode, but right now, all things relate to presidential politics. I love that a 6' 1" man is running for president, and his wife is only 1" shorter than him. You know Michelle would intimidate the hell out of McCain.
The other part of this story is McCain's mention in the last debate of how the North Koreans are 3" shorter than the South Koreans. I've always been fascinated by different culture's heights, changes in them, and what might cause that (the increase in height of Japanese youth when milk started to be introduced into the Japanese diet). My other height factoid was that a pubescent girl only grew two more inches after the onset of menses (or as Nancy and Kirsten like to call it, Aunt Flo). This is why super models were always late bloomers. I didn't get my first period until 10th grade, which narrowed my career options, in the late 70's, modeling or playing basketball.
So today I have another height factoid to add to my arsenal. After the McCain statement about the North Koreans in the debate, there was an article in the New York Times. Turns out the North Koreans aren't the only ones coming up short.
In 1880, Americans were the tallest people in the world. But by 2000, American men, at an average height of 5-feet-10.5-inches, ranked 9th, and women, at about 5-feet-5-inches, fell to 15th. Several Northern European countries rank the highest in height, with the Dutch coming in first, at just over 6 feet for the men and 5-feet-7-inches for the women.
Turns out it's due to our inadequate health care and poor nutrition. What a surprise.
My younger son is in second grade now. I think I need to go back to that former teacher and tell him I've got a better answer for the tall girls. You can really intimidate the hell out of John McCain when you tower over him in your high heels.
2 comments:
I always enjoy reading your BLOG entries, but this one triggered several memories.
I also can remember my Mom reminding you to stand up straight. Oh boy, I think she was a little obsessed with that!
The discussion about North Korean's being shorter was something that I witnessed when I was a newsman for the American Forces Korea Network in Seoul. I was on assignment in Panmunjom (38th parallel) for a joint meeting between N. Korea and the UN Forces. It was there I saw my first North Korean. They all had such a fierce look, like hate in their eyes! . They (N.Korea) of course had their most fit soldiers assigned duty at this location, as did the ROK (Republic of Korea) Army. It was amazing to see the height difference between the North and South Koreans. It was said that poor nutrition in the North contributed to their smaller size.
It was a strange place where there was a line draw on the pavement separating the North and the South. North Korean soldiers could cross the line and often would, trying to antagonize of provoke one of the UN servicemen by bumping them or spitting on their shoes. We were told to NEVER cross this line. A meeting hall was built perpendicular across this line and the North would enter on their side and the South on theirs. There was a table inside that stretched from wall-to-wall across room at which the parties faced each other.
OMG! I feel like an old vet telling a war story!
REMIT
My mom was the tallest in her 4th grade class, she'll proudly tell you... 4'11". Of course, that's where she stopped and all her classmates surpassed her in height -- however, she's kind of a "big dog" personality and no one who meets her believes she's <5' tall, that's for sure! ; ) Welcome back, missed the blog, girrrl! xo Lisa B.
Post a Comment