Let's Rant - Being short

Okay, so I know this rant doesn't involve everyone (so controversial) but I wanted to rant about being short. I am 1.45m even though I am very ashamed of it. I know that I should have self confidence and all and I do, in my face, but being short ACTUALLY causes incovieniances which are small but annoying.

I will start with the common assumption that you are younger than you are. There is nothing that annoys me more than when someone thinks I am 10 or something, because in my brain I am 14, it is just how I look. One of the many examples that show that this is so annoying, is at the cinema. I don't go very often but when I do, I have this initial fear that the person won't let me into a 12 movie. I know what you are thinking (I am a mindreader, see) "But Lauren, they aren't always like that! None of them actually stop you!" and yes, many don't, but I have had a few extremely awkward experiences with the lady behind the desk about my age. For example, I went to see Taken 3 with my friends (this was a while ago) and we were all hyped about it. But Taken 3 is a 12, so I was a bit anxious, so was my best friend, who is shorter than me (that is why we get on), and we often get mistaken for younger kids. But we go up to the counter to some lady who looked like a mole (I think she was partially sighted) and we asked for three teen tickets for Taken 3. She asked my small friend and I for some ID which we had just in case (not that we had ever had to use it) and she asked up for our birthdays. I am one to freak out about stuff like this, for some reason when someone asks me something about myself I literally have a mind blank and just blub like a fish. And let me tell you, fish blubbing is very suspicious to the ladies at the counters. But we answered but for some reason this women was under the impression that she was doing a good deed and letting us off because we were under 12. WHAT?! If you had bothered looking at our ID you would know our age and if she had listened to our birthdays, she would know we were over the age. Well, she kept hinting that "she knew we were underage" and it annoyed me. E.g, best friend forgot something and she said "You will remember things like that when you are 13"... wow. And then we did the subtle "So what shall we do for our 15th best friend?" "Oh, I don't know, but isn't it weird that we will be allowed to get pregnant by the end of next year, being 16 and all". Ah, it did make me chuckle. But it is just scenarios like that which annoy me. So don't underestimate short people, okay?

- And then there are shops, which are extremely annoying for short peeople like me. Not only do they never have anything your size and if you try on most things you look like a 4 year old wearing her dad's top, but the whole layout is a disaster too! I don't know if this is everywhere but in the shops in my town centre, they have a pretty weird way of piling clothes. For some reason they put the smallest sizes at the top. WHY!? Obviously if you are short enough to fit in some dwarf trousers, you can't reach 3 metres up in the air to get to that top shelf on the wall! Just why? But then this provokes a "clash of the titans" type scenario where you are desperately trying to reach the top shelf and you end up looking like a hopeless 5 year old wanting to wear "big girls clothes", not helpful! This is when I get pretty self conscious and force my taller friends to grab stuff for me, but I am always scared those mums will be thinking "Oh she shouldn't be shopping in the women's section" which I hate, a lot.

- And finally there is just school in general, being short doesn't help our hectic lives in the slightest (other than the fact you can run through peoples' legs, that is great). You always have a tall friend who uses you as an arm rest, which annoys me quite a lot. I don't think those people realise that they are putting their whole weight on your tiny body. But I have grown accustomed to it and have developed very strong shoulders (thanks tall friend). And then there is the name "midget", or whatever they have at your school, be it "titch" or "shrimp" etc. I have gotten over it now and I am not really called these names anymore other than if it is all just playful banta, but I hated being called these things in primary and stuff, because it is demoralising beyond belief. It isn't something you can change, and if you try to act tough you are sort of proving their point because you look like an idiot! But those are the problems of the bullies, not the victims, which I kept in mind. I am quite a confident person and for me to look at myself and hate what I see is a big thing, but it all gets better, I think. But I don't want to go into a whole talk about bullies, that is for another day.

So I hoped you enjoyed my slightly elongated (get it?*insert smirk emoji here*) summary of the problems of being miniscule. As I said at the beginning, this doesn't relate to everyone, so if you have any things that annoy you about stereotypes and stuff, be sure to let me know via the comments or instagram or twitter etc.

It's been great talking to you,

see you later.

Lauren x

#rant #life #school #short #size