Worst things about being tall

I'm 1.92m, which is moderately tall by Australian standards. By British standards I'm significantly taller than average. I'm also pretty broad, which for some reason makes people think I'm a little shorter than I actually am. If someone is broad shouldered, they look less tall than someone of the same height who is skinny. Anyway, I'll hunch over my computer to write about the worst things about being moderately tall.

The most common problem in the United Kingdom is whacking my head on the tops of doors and ceilings. This is especially true of old buildings and pubs built into medieval buildings. They tend to have door frames about 5 foot five at most. However, these are less dangerous than ones at about 6 foot tall, because to get under a five foot five door frame, you have to duck, for something which is only just below your head level, it is easier to forget and get that sweet, stinging feeling of whacking your skull.

Public transport is also a struggle. Particularly sitting on buses is very difficult, although I don't do that often. The worst thing is probably trains (planes don't count, any time food and and movies are given to me I will happily sit like Quasimodo doing yoga), trains are bad because I tend to be sat next to a fat Yorkshireman, who blames the small seats rather than his own gigantic frame for his discomfort. Anyway, I can tolerate that too, at least on a train you can get up and have a stretch.

Sleeping is also sleeping a minor irritant, a typical hotel bed is only about 1.90m, so if you're staying somewhere cheap, you will have feet dangling over the edge of the bed. This makes sharing a bed a little more difficult too, although that has advantages too.

A more unusual problem I've experienced is being the tallest person on a dance floor by a good six inches. In Australia there would always be at least a few people in a big club taller than me (on one occasion a woman well over 6 foot 4 stopped me from falling over by putting a gigantic hand in the middle of my chest and levering me back up. I've never been so scared and kind-of aroused at the same time). However, in the U.K. particularly in Scotland, I will typically be distinctly one of the tallest people in a club, it's very strange, because I'm not particularly tall. Anyway, this just gives me extra opportunity to get on the podium, and bust some crazy shapes (not really).

Another problem, which I've had everywhere I've been, has been finding girlfriends of a reasonable height. On a purely biological level, my aesthetically ideal woman 'the goldilocks height' would be between 5 foot 6 and 5 foot 10 (and brunette, if it's not too much to ask). Luckily, I'm a little more tolerant, and will never discount any woman who is willing to put up with my insane ramblings, heavy drinking, and mood swings. The result, most of my girlfriends have been either 5 foot 4 or less, or 5 foot 11 or taller. However, on the most part, that's still worked for me, so I don't really know what my point was, perhaps next time a slightly taller than average girl would be the way to go.

In conclusion, these aren't really problems, more that they are obstacles to overcome. I'm only 6 foot 3, for a sense of perspective, a friend of mine who I used to play basketball with was 6 foot 9, or 2.06m, I don't know how he survived. Being tall brings positives too: being able to see over crowds, being naturally better at basketball than someone sub six foot tall, and my favourite of all, adamantly saying that I am only 5 foot 9 to someone with small man syndrome, and watching their little face go red with bluster as we compare heights. Another benefit is standing at urinals next to these people, but that's another story.