Vertically Challenged...Part 2

Grocery shopping is an adventure for those under 5’ tall.
When the item I want is on the top shelf, at the very edge, I can reach it with some stretching. But if that first can or box is gone then the challenge begins. I stand on the bottom shelf, if I can get my foot there, and I can sometimes grab what I want. If the item is back any further I look through my purse for something that is long and ridged, like a comb and then I reach up and try to scoot that item to the edge of the shelf. I have had a few things fall and almost hit me on the head. Did you know that grocery shopping could be hazardous to your health, and I’m not talking about what you purchase to eat? If I have nothing in my purse I begin looking for a store clerk or a customer who is tall and ask for their help. Sometimes I don’t need the item bad enough to go through the gymnastics to get it.

When I am at church, conferences or any place where I am sitting in a chair taking notes I have to cross my legs to keep my book from sliding off my lap, it gets very uncomfortable after a while. Folding chairs are agony for me to sit on for long periods of time; they just don’t fit my body.

I need a desk that is custom made so that I don’t suffer the pain in my shoulders and neck from my hands being at a straining angle when writing or using my lap top. If I raise my chair so that my hands can be in the correct position my feet are not on the floor but on the legs of the chair, as I am seated as I write this. Putting the lap top in my lap doesn’t work unless I can be seated in a very low chair because the lap top would not stay on my lap; it tends to go the direction my knees are facing, that is down towards the floor.

More adventures will be coming. How do you cope with the above issues if you are 5’ tall or under?

Vertically Challenged...Part 1

I have a handicap. It’s not a handicap that earns me a special parking place, but I do have limitations. I will be sharing about this over the next few blogs.

In “politically correct” terminology I am “vertically challenged.” To individuals 5’0” and under the world is “super sized.” The average height for U.S. women is 5’4” to 5’5”.

So what is the big deal about a few inches you ask?

I have lived my adult life looking at the world from the perspective of 5’ and did not realize what I had been missing until I tried on a pair of my daughter’s 5” platform shoes; she stands 4’11” tall. These shoes did not just have a high heel but the actual bottom of the shoes was 5” high. When I first put them on I was afraid of falling off of them and injuring myself but once I got my balance I walked around my house seeing things from a new perspective. By the time I took the shoes off I was mad at the world and felt cheated. Do you have any idea what a difference 5” can make????

I could see out the window above my sink and I could reach the top shelf in my cabinets. The view was breathtaking from way up there.

If I was 5” taller I could sit in a chair, all the way back in the chair, and still have my feet on the floor. Shopping for furniture is a chore, not a pleasure for me. I try every sofa and chair that looks even remotely like it might fit me and stand up disappointed.

I will be sharing many more hazards of being short but I am putting a call out to all you “short” people to share some of your adventures. Let me know what you have experienced.

Image: Sheilaellen via Flickr