to wish tall people would all F off sometimes

[LaMaG]

OK, I know I am BU. I am 5'3", so not tiny. I went to a gig last night to a group that I was a huge fan of as a teenager and as soon as I arrived I realised there was no televised screen therefore I would not see anything. I should have seen it coming, it was a summer festival tent, not a venue as such with facilities. I moved around a bit eventually catching glimpses of the band every now again only to be immediately blocked again by a big person standing in front.

This weekend I also had my DD's gymnastics display which was a local thing with fold up chairs in a gym. A child sat in front of me and only then did I realise the huge relief I felt as I had been anxious a big man would sit in front and that was it ruined for me. Yes I could have craned my neck and been uncomfortable but DD would not have seen me and she was really nervous and needed to keep looking to me for reassurance.

It just got me thinking of all the times in my life I have paid to see something but just spent my time looking at the back of big stupid necks and shoulders, of feeling like my face was shoved into an arm pit. I have lost interest in live music and certain other things for this very reason but we are supposed to just put up with it, tough luck its your fault for being smaller.

Would it really be unreasonable for allowances to be made. I get there are many working problems with segregation by size but it seems to me that its not completely unworkable. For example there could be a priority viewing area in the front of gigs for people under 5'5", if they chose to move there. Or in a more casual setting, would be it unreasonable to ask - God forbid - that a taller person sits on the back row. I find it hard to believe tall people are all so selfish, I'm sure many would comply but this needs to be organised and normalised. It would be no more unfair than a person paying for a ticket not to see what they paid for.

I'm surprised at the lack of sympathy here! I wouldn't really expect venues to organise a separate area for short people, but I do think individuals with the advantage of height should recognise it and be gracious!

I do think individuals with the advantage of not being visually impaired should recognise it and be gracious but here we have a shorter OP thinking she should be allowed to book up the front seats and be at the front of the concert without giving a damn about visually impaired people

Being gracious goes more than one way

I'm 5 foot exactly and I keep a little step in my kitchen for reaching up into wall cupboards.

Me too. 😂 my dad bought me two steps one for the downstairs and one for upstairs for this very reason

"I wouldn't bother going to a gig standing room only as I know it's pointless"

I love standing gigs, hate seated, like I said, I just make sure I get there early so I can be on the front. Even when it means stationing myself for hours beforehand, through the boring support acts, and not drinking too much liquid so I won't need to use the loo during the gig and so lose my place. Easy enough when I was a teenager, not so much in my 50s, having birthed three kids and gone through menopause. But hey, rock 'n' roll! 🤷‍♀️ 😅

I am 5'10 and when I was younger, I would get to venues for my favourite bands from midday to ensure space at the barrier. So we are talking about waiting for at least 7 hours, 9 for the band to actually come on stage. And frequently some small women would always start elbowing their way to the front having rocked up at 8:45 giggling 'Sorry! We are tiny we cant see! Can we get to the barrier?'
Sure pet. You can get to the barrier if you arrive at 12pm like the rest of us.

FYI I have vision problems so cant see fuck all if I stand at the back. So if I really want a good spot, I have to get places early.

I dont whine that people with good eyesight need to be at the back.

That's fine - you short people can get tiny seats at the front with minimal leg room tightly squeezed together - us selfish tall people can have nice large chairs with much larger legroom towards the back. Then your post will be 'AIBU - why do tall people get better seats than us'

Replace tall people with fat people and see how discriminatory you're being

This

I am 5ft 2" and always grateful to see, and ask (and never been refused) a taller person to get something I simply cannot reach.

"I get quite claustrophobic and I think as a very short person, in a big crowd that is worse but I think in a small space a taller person might feel claustrophobic."

I’m very claustrophobic and I think that’s why I feel like everyone should be able to reserve the space/ spot they need in some way so that we aren’t arguing who’s needs are more important, it’s a question of organisation. And never question whether someone needs what they’ve booked.

I wouldn’t go to a standing gig myself as I hate standing!

Also, I now have one leg slightly shorter than the other following an injury, which affects my balance and means that I can't walk very far without needing a stick, or stand for very long without my leg getting tired. That said, I still prefer standing at gigs, and being on the front allows me to lean on the barrier, or at smaller gigs I've been to, the front edge of the stage, if I need some support.

Sometimes life just isn't fair. My husband is 6ft5. I've witnessed someone run up and punch him in the face because they wanted to 'knock down the tall guy'. He's had people shout at him at concerts even though he's always trying to move. Leg room is awful anywhere so he has to pay extra. But he's not a knobhead who feels the need to moan about height on a forum.

Yes, that's because the seats that you're insisting tall people should be confined to are objectively worse.

I'm happy to consider a system where seats are allocated by height (though I think it's clearly unworkable in practice), but not one where DH and I have to have the worst seats every single time because we happen to be tall.

I go to loads of gigs and I’m 5ft. I always arrive super early to queue. That way i’m always in the front two rows. Works for me!! I got fed up with spending gigs looking at someone’s back/head and not seeing the band.

Same! And I still do it now in my fifties!! Queuing for barrier can be quite fun. I hate it when someone tries to push in front having just arrived and I’ve been there for 9 hours!! Nope not happening mate!!

This

I have just booked seats for the theatre that are at the front for the extra legroom. My OH is 6’5 and cant physically sit in the other seats without his knees jammed up against the seat in front. We also payed extra for them.

We went to an event where we was sat in a balcony and seats were allocated and he couldn’t barely fit - the poor bugger ended up with backache and his knees were killing him after.

If we are paying for a seat then as far as I’m concerned we can pick wherever we want!

If a 6'5" father is taking children to something then chances are it's a family show where there would be lots of other children - therefore it would be immensely selfish for him to sit anywhere other than the back. Booster seats for his kids.

My husband is made to feel like shit whenever he’s in an audience - he’s 6’6. What would you have him do: decapitate himself?

You can always bring along a cushion if it’s that traumatic 🙄

Reading this thread, it's very obvious that Napoleon Syndrome really does exist.

I'm not standing at the back of a venue so shortarses can get the best view, not unless I pay less for the ticket.

Or ask to borrow a booster seat - most venues have them for family performances!

@Tinkietot boohoo do tall bodysuits I'm 5ft 10 and they're finr

meant playsuit but they do bodysuits too

Can't believe the butthurt people on this thread honestly. If you're +/- average height and still so touchy about it I honestly don't understand how you got this far.

It's never the proper giants or the proper smurfs that ever give a shit about it either. People at each end of the scale live in a world that's not designed with them in mind and generally understand that

Periscope?

there was a big thread on twitter the other day saying that gigs should have a height order policy, with the smallest nearest the stage and the tallest passing drinks from the back

there wasn't such a sense of humour failure about that one though 😂

having said that, once at a football match (Germany so standing allowed) two hulking great chaps stood right front of me and DH just before kick off. They must have sensed something because they immediately offered to swap places and were lovely.

And at a gig last year 2 really tall people pushed in front of us once the gig had started (we're both short-ish and ok with getting the occasional sight of the band mostly, and that was the situation there) so we couldn't see anything. Before i could even twitch the even taller guy behind me asked them to move, and when one started to backchat, went and stood in front of him. So again, they moved.

But a short father (who would still block the view of children and shorter adults behind him) would be ok to sit at the front? What about short sighted children with tall dads? They have to sit at the back and not see very well just because a short adult wants a better view?