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.

This was exactly what I wanted to say!

Its a tough one . Id hate to make tall people feel bad . However, i paid for two tickets for a play recently as a b day treat. I had to sit leaning sideways throughout as a very tall person was in front of me . I had to also move when they moved . It was really uncomfortable and affected getting into the play .

Or just carry a toddler step and a booster seat with you everywhere. Sorted 😆

That's what steps are for

And then the person behind you might need a booster seat. And then the person behind them, and so on …

I'm 5'3 and also can't wear play suits bc hey cut my vag in two. That's just torso length

This is comedy gold and peak MN

I came here to say something similar to the first sentence. Like I’ve been made to feel like a freak my whole life for something I can’t help.

I’ve been bullied and feel worthless and ugly due to this. I don’t get why tall people are considered to be fair game to be mocked when you wouldn’t say the same thing about other groups of people.

Sorry I meant second sentence

But at a family show even the average height fathers (and mothers) are going to be blocking the view of children!
And why should a tall father's kids have to sit at the back and not see?

Bonkers.

DH is 6 foot 7. I've missed numerous kids' plays etc because he's so worried about others not being able to see that he's insisted we sit at the back with the result that I've seen nothing (mainly cos of twits holding phones and ipads right up high to film the bloody thing). Not once has his consideration ever been noted - he just gets people complaining whatever he does - so now it's like fuck it - we'll sit where I can see and we'll compromise on trying to get to sit at the edge to the side so he can shuffle out a bit and free up views and I might get to see something for once.

He can't help his height and he spends half the time going around Tesco being stopped by people asking him to get stuff off high shelves - so cut him some slack please? You're welcome to smirk when he bangs his head off a door frame again though because you think he would have learnt to duck by now.

I think the Romans had the best idea with their stepped seating theatres.

Most theatres and venues aren't steep enough!

"Most theatres and venues aren't steep enough!"

Agreed. Mind, I've been in circles in old theatres where your feet, when sitting down, are at the same level as the top of the seat in the row below!

Yeah, I bet tall people wish you'd F off too, OP .

I just wish the tall community could be more aware of their backpacks. I don't know how many times I've been knocked in the face by one. My DH was almost going to say something to a repeat offender in the Vatican at one point.

Backpack thoughtlessness is not the preserve of the tall community, though... people of all heights can forget they stick out, and consequently twat others with them.

Yeah, but the tall community are the ones who can thwack me in the face with them and I just wish they wouldn't!

@Another76543 sorry you've been injured by passing bags on a flight, but you're missing my point. You can still get from point A to point B. But I cannot see the performance. I'm not saying you should be injured, I'm not saying there shouldn't be some kind of accommodation for longer legs. I'm saying you got what you paid for. If I pay to see a play and don't see it, then I am not getting what I paid for. I think it's the responsibility of theatres and concert venues to provide a line of sight for everyone who buys a ticket. As to a tall person stepping aside or allowing a short one in front of them, that's the kind of graciousness I would expect, the same as I don't complain or kick people's legs when they are stretched out into 'my' space on a plane.

You have the trump card though, the potential to be tallest and be the most hated person at a gig. The woman on someone’s shoulders.

I wish the short community would be more aware of their umbrellas, as the pointy bits of metal on them are often eyeball height to me. I don't know how many times I've been pushed past and had umbrella spokes scraping against my face/shoulders/neck.

Yeah, 100% agree. I don't carry an umbrella any more because I noticed it was happening and I didn't seem able to avoid it. I call on fellow shortarses to take action on this issue.

Where do you live, and can I move there? 🙂

All my life I've had the piss taken out of me for being tall, I've been bullied at school for it, excluded from wedding photos because I mess up the "look", paid a fortune in special length jeans, extra leg room seats and all sorts of other things.

I've never in all my life had anyone offer me the extra leg room seat or the aisle seat - let alone fall over themselves to do so!!

I try my best to be considerate, I would try to move out of the way if I could. But if I'm seeing a gig I'm into, I want to be somewhere I can see the band, not just see little people-shaped blobs from the very back of the venue. And I often have to book the front row of a seating block because the length of my thigh is physically longer than the gap to the seat in front otherwise, so I quite literally don't fit - I'm not planning on giving up going to the theatre any time soon!

I do agree though that more options would be helpful, but that said often those options exist already - like if you need/want to be at the front, get there early. Or buy the more expensive stalls ticket. Its difficult to think it's an improvement that a standard ticket is for an average height, average weight, average <any other characteristic> and anyone outside that little box pays extra though!

I haven’t used an umbrella for years.

So clearly what we need are height adjustable seats in theatres.... you input your height into the control box and it moves up and down to level off the sightline of the whole row....

I hate the stalls in the theatre. Everyone I go with prefers them for the leg room and the proximity to the stage, but I'm 4'11" and nine time out of ten, I can't see anything.

It would help if people kept still, but that's a long gone dream.

I love the idea that someone should be passing drinks forward - that should catch on!