A day of social progress for tall people everywhere
Nov 4, 2008 was a day of monumental change. No, not because of the election. It was the day when my favorite tall clothing store,
Long Tall Sally, launched its American website. That means no more outrageous UK conversion rates, international shipping rates, or duty import taxes. I can't even tell you how much easier this makes my life.
Coincidentally, Nov 4, 2008 was also the day my very first order arrived from Gap.com/OldNavy.com/BananaRepublic.com. I had heard they had tall sizes, but was afraid to try them for fear they wouldn't be tall enough. Well, the clothes have come, and they are perfect. Nice long arms and bodies on the sweaters. And Old Navy and Gap are very reasonably priced. So this open up a whole new world of shopping possibilities for me. I am over the moon.
Hope your election day went as well as mine.
Scene 222: CVS Pharmacy
You guys are so sweet. I've been getting a lot of requests to bring back the tall blog. That, coupled with the fact that I've gotten some really ridiculous remarks lately make me think I should bring it back. So here goes...
I was picking up photos at the drug store the other day, when this lady gets up right next to me and starts staring at me up and down in awe. She started circling me, ogling me all the while.
Then, even though I was in the middle of a conversation with the clerk behind the counter, she starts telling me about how tall I am. It's as if all of her social skills had flown out the window -- she just had to tell me how tall I was no matter if I was in the middle of a conversation with someone else.
Her eldferly mom was with her and told her to leave me alone. I pretty much just ignored her and kept talking over her to the clerk. As I stood there waiting for my pictures, she said, "You're so tall... but I still think you look feminine."
Oh no she didn't. I pretty much just walked away from her at that point. Here's a tall people interaction tip, in case you can't possibly control yourself and absolutely HAVE TO harass that tall person:
ACCEPTABLE: "You're so tall... AND beautiful!"
NOT ACCEPTABLE: "You're so tall... BUT at least you're beautiful!"
Scene 221: The Dry Cleaners
I'm dropping off clothes at the front desk, when this Asian guy, about 5-foot-2, comes out of the back to ask:
Asian Dude: Hey, how tall are you?
Me: 6'5"
Asian Dude: You play basketball?
Me: No.
Asian Dude: Volleyball??
Me: No.
Asian Dude: Nothing???
Me: No.
Then he just went back to the back. Why are people so disappointed when they find out I'm not some WNBA star?
Awesome!
I think I've found my new favorite hotel chain. Kimpton Hotels offers
Tall Rooms with 96-inch beds, raised shower heads, mirrors, toilets, door frames, ceiling and bathrobes. I can't wait to stay there!!
Scene 220: The Mall
I'm walking in the mall, when I hear a faint little voice call up to me from far, far below. It's this tiny, frail old lady with huge glasses. She's maybe four-feet tall and 60lbs. She looks up at me all aghast and says:
Frail Old Lady: Are you seven feet?
Me: No. I'm 6-foot-5.
Frail Old Lady: ALMOST seven feet!
Me: No, not really. 6-foot-5.
What's another 7 inches from all the way down there though, right?
Scenes 218 & 219: Nordstrom Rack & Target
I'm at the Rack, when this tall lady with an accent comes up and says: "Can I ask you a really weird question?" As always, I'm skeptical that the question is in fact really that weird, so I say yes, ask away. The lady asks where I get my jeans.
Ah-hah, just as I suspected. The question is not weird at all! I tell her. She thanks me, and I go on my way.
No more than 15 minutes later, I'm in Target and this tall lady with a baby comes up and says, "Excuse me, can I ask where you get your jeans?" She apologizes for bothering me, and I tell her it's okay, she's the second person in the last few minutes to ask. Then we chat about where to shop.
So, for the record, I prefer
Tall Girls UK, followed by
Long Elegant Legs and then
Long Tall Sally.
Feel free to harass me for clothing advice if you're a tall lady. I would hope other tall girls would extend me the same courtesy.
Scene 217: My kitchen
Speaking of footstools....
The other day a repairman came over to fix our mounted microwave. As he's reaching up trying to unscrew the top of the microwave, he says:
Repairman: Excuse me.... do you happen to have a footstool I could use?
Me: (Thinking, "Are you kidding me?") Um... no.
(Pause)
I don't really need one. You can probably guess why not.
Repairman: I figured. Just thought I'd ask.
Scene 216: Rainbow Library
So we're at a kids' piano recital. After the recital, Brian, my husband, gets up to get some juice and cookies. All of a sudden, this guy goes up to him and says:
Random guy: Wow, you're tall! Do you have any idea how much money you could make putting things on shelves for other people? I'm serious! You could totally make like $30 per hour! SERIOUSLY! You should totally look into it. You could really make some money!
Now, I wasn't standing right there, so I don't know exactly what Brian said to him. I DO know that Brian was pretty annoyed that the guy just assumed that if he wasn't putting things up on high shelves for money, he was wasting his life away. (Brian is a graphic artist/art director, mind you.) I think Brian just threw out a half-hearted, "Oh yeah?" and then walked back to me and told me the story.
A few minutes later, the guy comes over to the both of us. He sees me and says:
Random guy: Wow, there are two of you! Hey, I think you just found your apprentice! Did he tell you what we talked about? I'M SERIOUS! You guys should look into it. I used to work for the movie industry and they always needed tall people to put things on the high shelves.
Me: They can't just use footstools?
Random guy: No way man, they keep the delicate stuff up top. They don't want to put someone up there on a stool. I'm telling you guys - they're always looking for tall people. It's good money!
I pretty much stopped listening after he repeated himself for the third time.
Later, Brian and I joked that our business name would be something like Top Shelf, Inc. Our logo would be a footstool in a circle with a slash through it. The slogan would be something like: "No one else can put it on the top shelf like we can."
I must say, this is one I definitely had not heard before.
