this is a bit of a rant... but not an angry rant.
I live in Papua New Guinea. Land of short men. I stand at 6'5" tall. I knew this before moving there.
What follows is not a list of complaints, I love being tall, and all its advantages. I know there are many men out there who would love to be this tall. Instead this is a list of observations... while I would not change me, I may at times wish to change the world around me.
For example.
In PNG:
-low hanging door jambs that I hit my head on
-beds that are too short so my legs hang over
-bathrooms that have the facilities too close to the floor, or the stalls too narrow for my shoulders
-constant staring from adults and children, some crying, some running away in fear
-bamboo floors that I can't walk on
That's why furlough held the appeal to me of finally blending into a world where I fit in.
But I'm noticing in the USA:
-while no one is surprised by my size, there are still a few things off.
-higher counters are nice for me.
-still people mount mirrors so I can only see from my neck down... which makes it hard to shave.
-beds fit me nicely.
but the single most interesting thing I've found is that...
in PNG I fit in about 90% of cars...
in the USA I fit in about 20% of cars.
That's right, I had to turn down 2 free car offering because I could not fit well enough to drive them.
The reason for this I think is that in PNG a majority of cars are older and are 4x4's. There are no nice street cars, or sun roofs, or electric seats (all things that take away from headroom).
Despite the low mirrors and low roofs, I like that I can walk through the doors.
After all, this is the country that hosts the NFL. Many of those guys I would nickname 'tiny'. (-;
Yesterday my son and I walked around town and I suddenly realized there was no staring.. quite the opposite. I knew nobody around me... no one was pointing, no children cowered, no clerks hid behind newspapers and stole peeks at me. No one tried to sneak up to me and touch me to see if I was real... no crowds scattered, no one make a 'tisk tisk tisk' sound as if to say 'he is a giant who will eat my children'.
No one even noticed I was there. It was a nice change. So are concrete floors marble benches.
