Pros vs Cons of Being Tall
January 19, 2014 Assumptions 3 comments dgamage14
The common thing for people to talk to me about is definitely my height. Being 6’5”, I tend to get asked quite a few questions about being tall and I feel like I should try to show that it is not all that great being tall. This list is meant show the pros and cons of being taller than almost everybody I meet and these may not be true of all tall people but I am going from personal experience.
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Pros: |
Cons: |
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Can always reach the top shelf. |
Always asked to reach something on the top shelf. |
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Advantage in all of the following sports: |
Repeatedly hear the same comments and questions such as: |
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-Basketball- Do I need an explanation? |
-“Wow, you’re tall!” |
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-Tennis- A longer arm means a faster swing in tennis. |
-“How tall are you?” |
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-Track and Field- The current record holders for 100m dash, Long Jump, Triple Jump, High jump, shotput, and discus are in the range or 6’3” to 6’8”. |
-“Do you play basketball?” |
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-Volleyball- How easy is it to spike the ball at 6’5”? Very easy. |
-“Can you dunk?” |
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-Soccer (goalie)- If you can reach all parts of the net without jumping it is pretty simple to block the goal right? |
-“Have you grown?” |
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-Football- Almost every position except runningback uses players that are extremely tall. |
-“Wow, you’re like 8 (or 10 or 100) feet tall!” |
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-Swimming- Michael Phelps and other professional swimmers are all above 6’2” or so. |
-“Oh my gosh, I’m not even up to like, your shoulder!” |
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Can always see in movie theaters. |
Block everybody’s view. |
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Easy to find in a crowd. |
Hard to blend in. |
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Girls like taller guys. |
Girls do not like guys that taller than them by 10 inches or more. |
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Easily intimidate people. |
Hit head on doorways and/or ceilings on occasion. |
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Can seem older than actual age. |
Walk into numerous cobwebs and spiderwebs. |
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It is almost impossible to find pants, shirts, or shoes that are long enough. |
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Experience pain from growing too fast as well as decrease in eyesight, stretch marks on back, weak tendons, and horrible knees. |
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Never have enough room for legs in cars, buses, desks, airplanes… |
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In some sports taller people have a disadvantage because they lack a high power to bodyweight ratio. These sports include: |
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-Weightlifting-Do you know how much further we have to push? |
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-Rock climbing-Although a longer reach is helpful, having much bigger biceps compared to bone length tips the balance in favor of the shorter person. |
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-Wrestling-In the smaller weight classes a shorter person has the advantage because he has a lower center of gravity and better leverage. |
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And finally… get stuck with a bottom locker. |
As you can see, towering over your peers is not always the greatest thing. Since I have gone through my personal opinions about being tall, I will now list more factual information. I would like to point out that every country has a different definition of “Tall.” In the United States the average male height is 5 feet 9 inches, a fairly high number, while in Indonesia the average height is only 5’2” (Center for Disease and Control) The height difference that countries experience is due to ethnicity, poverty level, and economic status. The richer countries that have been developed for centuries with a high population of peoples of Nordic descent are the tallest while poor countries with oppressive governments make up the shorter countries. Healthier countries are taller, so does this mean tall people are healthier? They have been admired in the past because a large body structure would mean protection and strength, so is this the reason people wish they could be tall? It very well could be although it is impossible to declare that it is the sole reason. I believe that being above the fiftieth percentile for height is a great thing unless the individual is drastically taller than the norm.
3 Comments
This is very true. People who grow fast and get really tall tend to have a lot of trouble with their knees and other parts of the body. I believe all your pros and cons are very well stated from your opinion and what you experience. I also find it very interesting about the Indonesia average height. That’s not tall at all. There is no happy medium for people, sometimes if shorter people can’t reach something, they wish they were taller or maybe if a tall person has trouble finding pants that actually do passed their ankles, they probably wish they were shorter. There seem to be more cons than pros here.
Nice paper. People shorter then others are always wishing they are taller then they are. Until they actually have to deal with being tall all the time, then they would know what its like to not have a blanket cover your feet because you are too tall!
Derek this is the most truthful piece of writing I have ever read. Granted I’m not the same height as you which you made very obvious during basketball practice, but still I am not very short and some of this stuff does apply to me every once and a while. Still just keep making fun of us short people Derek it will make you feel better.