How's the weather up there?
There's this thing at the retirement home where they think I'm the tallest person in the world. There are a few factors that fuel it, I'll admit. First of all, I'm not exactly short. In fact, I'm above average height in every country in the world. Yep, that’s right, one day I took the time to look it up. I'm not exactly a giant, though. I’m 5’9”...fine, fine, I'm 5’8” and 3/4, but I round up.
It also helps that my senior citizens have shrunk with age, and that I wear heels to work basically every day. So there are a few extraneous factors, but I don't think that any of them warrant the reaction that my height gets.
It's settled down some now that I’ve been there for a while. In the beginning, they loved to comment on my height all the time. They’d mostly comment to each other but in very loud voices that I could easily overhear. Things like, ‘I'd never want to be that tall.’ Or, ‘Wow she's tall, too tall, don't you think?’
No really, these are things that were said about me that I overheard. Who knows what they say that I don’t hear? One of the many reasons that developing thick skin is necessary for working in long term care.
One of my favorite residents (I have about seven favorites) decided to start calling me 6-foot as a joke. One day I referred to her as 4-foot, but she scowled and replied that the joke only goes one way.
A family member of a resident who is quite tall himself had a funny way of introducing himself to me. He walked into my office, said his name was Doug, shook my hand, handed me the card pictured above, and walked out. That was it. I looked it up, and the Portland Skyliners Tall Club is a real thing. I'm just picturing them measuring attendees at the door before they can enter. My favorite part of the story is that technically I don't even meet the height requirement for the club!
To say my residents keep me on my toes would be an understatement. So maybe it's their fault I look so tall?
