1668 Sincerely Bold.

by

At her core Nina is a joyous creature, happy to experience the world shielded by a belief that other people are good at heart. She likes looking for the good in them and knows that where it is may be hidden, but everyone hints at it in how they face the world. Ed is the other side, having experienced the worst people have to offer every day of his life. She is tall, beautiful, and loved almost by default by most people. Ed has to work at that like other people, and has to deal with being short. Like most of us he’s drawn to the magical version of things Nina sees. Being tall gives you a different set of expectations to deal with but they are generally positive. It’s not a hindrance the way being short is. It doesn’t make you wary of the world in such a negative way. You get asked about how much you like basketball and things like that, but not usually mocked. People don’t like it when things don’t meet their expectations and it can be a real trial when not meeting them is not your fault, but rather a quirk of fate.

44 Comments

so are they on a last crusade? my only question is does nina talk in her sleep? ( sorry couldn’t resist)

Hee hee hee!
“Elsa!…Don’t walk OVER the seal! Elsa!…Don’t walk OVER the seal!”

I dunno, being asked if you play basketball when you’re a nerd who can’t into sports gets tiring after a while. Plus low shelves and well, low everything really but mainly low ceilings and bottom shelves definitely make being tall a bit of a hindrance as well. I guess its true that people at least won’t pick on you for that one aspect (even if they will for whatever other ones you have that they don’t like), but from personal experience at least, people tend to ask you to reach stuff for them a lot.

Anyways, I guess what I’m saying is that each has its challenges, and while being short might be more conducive to cynicism, being tall doesn’t necessarily mean everything looks like a land of sunshine and happiness. I mean, more power to Nina as far as keeping her sunny outlook so well, but some of us feel just a bit jealous of the shorties. Or at least wish we could somehow work out a deal that we’ll help when it comes to top shelves if those shorter than us would help with the bottom one.

Low ceiling fans are fun too. Found one in the dark one night at a friend’s place, thankfully if wasn’t on. Blades were right about the bridge of my nose and I was 6’2″ at the time. Also the back and knee problems that come with having to lean over to do things that If I was even just 5’11” would be easier to reach. But yeah, I have seen more grief heaped on shorter people who are below average in height.

Friend of mine managed to stick his pickup on top of a stump with the driver door wedged against a post, and the other door wouldn’t open. He had to crawl his 6’2″ frame through the window. I (5’6″ me) happily observed,”Sucks to be tall, don’t it.”

To which he replied,”Sometimes”

Oh man! As a tall person I could never figure out why shoe stores put their largest shoes on the bottom shelf. Do short people have the biggest feet?

I’m 6’5″, but also sorta fat, so I don’t get asked about basketball any more. My trouble was always finding pants that fit. Companies seem to think either you’re tall and thin, and play basketball and thus wear shorts all the time, or you’re tall and really fat. As in wider than you are tall.
Numbers, I’m comfortable in a 40wx36l for most brands. I can find 38×34 in most stores with minor effort. A 36 leg is rare as hens teeth, but 34 is wearable. But a 38 waist is sort tight, and anything with a 34 leg is either 38 or smaller, or 44 or larger… I have no idea why there’s the uncovered gap in the 40-42 range.
Also, bathtubs. It is very rare to find a tub where both my knees and my torso can be wet at the same time. Far as that goes, a showerhead above eye level isn’t a sure thing, but most places have gotten a lot better about that.

I feel your pain about pants. I’m only 6’3, but while I’m not skinny, I’m not fat. Almost all the pants I can find in a 36 length have way too much waist to them.

I’m lucky that I live in MN, because being a Nordic giant isn’t that uncommon. I travel a decent amount for work, and it’s annoying that the closer you get to a coast, the lower the shower heads get. I’ve given return business to hotels with crappy customer service just on the basis of not having to crouch when washing my hair.

I was a nerd who avoided sports as much as I could, but I wasn’t completely unathletic. That really attracted the bullies; it was like they figured since I was big it would look impressive if they cowed me, but since I was on the academic team I wouldn’t fight back. Having an uncle who was an all state wrestler willing to teach me a few tricks, and a father who was a firm believer in don’t start anything, but be sure to finish anything that does happen, was a fun mix. A couple dislocated shoulders and broken fingers generally convinced the bullies to steer clear of me and my friends.

I don’t know why, but I just want the inside of the shop to be covered in pentagrams and goat skulls, just to shock the uber-Christians the crucifix might attract. And because of how singularly amazing such a coffee shop could be.
…
On an unrelated note, has Nina ever considered cosplaying as a very tall Harley Quinn?

….I would frequent the heck out a shop like that…. and recommend it to every church goer I could find.

I hit my head a lot, find most cars uncomfortable (I own a fuel inefficient former police cruiser), people are naturally scared of me when I turn a corner near them (‘aah, you startled me’ as I slowly moved somewhere people naturally would be), have back problems from using low counters, knee problems from seats being to low (and to close together) and frequently am asked to get things down for people that never want to get anything off a low shelf for me.

Being tall is not particularly better than being short and has an annoying perceived benefit. Really you want to be average height so things are designed with your height in mind.

Heh. Going to really enjoy my variety of geeking out with this one!

Aviation is much kinder to short people than tall people. The main exception will be Cessnas (or other, larger aircraft) with really high instrument panels. You want to walk under a wing? Better duck. Want to tie down a low wing? Well, you’ve got to get low. Crouching is a necessary skill for anyone’s height. Being lower to the ground helps more.

Never mind being an avionics tech or mechanic. Short, skinny people excel in this area. Airplane interiors in general aviation are tight spaces and difficult to reach areas where the most necessary structural reinforcements, nuts, bolts, or what-have-you are invariably designed.

You lie down in aviation maintenance. A lot. You’re often upside-down with seats or railing right in the worst part of your back. In my day, I’ve even had the pleasure of meeting an airplane by the name of “Mower Power to the People.” Fascinating aircraft! Even when I weighed around 180 lbs, I couldn’t fit in it. A 5’6″ man who weighed about 150 lbs was the pilot. The airplane was essentially designed around him, and he could barely fit in the aircraft. However, it could reach 150 mph on a roughly 25 hp lawn mower engine.

The aviation maintainers aren’t the only ones who have it hard. Oh, sure. The seats are usually quite comfortable in larger business jet or airliner class aircraft. Even so, it can be a real nuisance to get into the pilot and copilot seats. You have to step over the comm and nav radio control heads and hope you don’t step on the nice leather seats while trying to avoid the control yokes, too.

Piper Cherokees are really nice entry level aircraft, but they only have one door… So, the pilot has to get in first, then passengers in the back seats, and then the passenger up front. Getting out is a reversal of the process. The ceiling is low, and the door isn’t particularly big. They are slightly cut into the top of the fuselage, so you at least have the ability to stand up while you’re stepping on the black slip-stop glued to the wing. I’m sorry, that’s not quite accurate. You can *begin* the standing up process as you step on the slip-stop.

The Cirrus SR22 solves this issue by having a canopy that swings up and back, completely out of the way of the cockpit! Yay! Now, you just have to worry about all of that plexiglass… Hey, did you ever use a magnifying glass to burn up stuff as a kid? Guess what that sun does with all of the glass if your aircraft is standing out in the open? Even when it’s not that hot outside, the interior can be quite warm, even when it’s about 40 degrees outside.

That’s enough for now. Yes. Aviation favors short people. I remember walking into a wing so hard, I was sure I heard the airplane cuss at me!

That’s a good point.
I’m not an expert, but-
a lot of [fighter planes], and other high-tech planes, seem to be built for: people under 6ft. tall, who have narrow shoulders,and who are not very bulky people.

The U.S. F15 + F16 fighter planes, and the Polish MiG 21 plane, seem to favor pilots who are 5 foot + five inches to 5′ 10″ tall. [Maybe people under 5′ 5″ are good in these planes, too].

“Don’t grow too tall, now, son. If you do, you won’t fit into some cockpits” – a character from Magnum P.I..

“I remember walking into a wing so hard, I was sure I heard the airplane cuss at me!”
That’s a GREAT line. I’ll have to try to use it around people. : )

I like Nina’s attitude, about [my words]- strange restaurants + strange places.

I once saw a sign on a small restaurant. It had a Drew Carey-like drawing of a man’s face. the man was wearing a green bow-tie. The man had a beaming smile, + the name of the place was-
“Efwards. Food you’ll swear by!”
That is a pretty bold name. I wish I could go to that place, and have lunch, just to [see] what the place is like. Drat. : )

I remember a breakfast nook / lunch counter just off the main strip in downtown Ottawa.
Yes they have a downtown, all two blocks of it XD
Anyhow, it was the only place open that early that was within walking distance and I wanted to avoid the hotels idea of continental breakfast – A coffee urn filled the previous night and a tray of assorted dried out doughnuts from the local Timmies that they picked up before the Timmies shut down for the night.
Good breakfast and pretty dang good baked goods – hot and fresh – the name of this establishment?

House of the Rising Bun.

Cool It sounds like a great place. I’ll look for a way to get there.
Singing: “There is, a house, in New Orleans, THEY CALL the Rising…!” :)

Yeah, Jackie; slight problem with your assumption on tall being good. One, ceiling fans exist to fuck you over. Two, clothes shopping is now a bitch. Three, road trips are now hell on the knees. Four, leverage is a bitch.

Other than that, though, being tall is fairly nice.

Everyone is reacting to the stuff I said about tall people like I’m not fucking tall.

On the internet, no one can see you’re tall… ;)

I won’t argue one iota that short people get more crap heaped on them than tall people.

I will say that being a tall female is a whole different trip than being a tall male. While it’s aesthetically considered attractive & constantly portrayed in the media as an ideal, and those are undeniable benefits, it doesn’t play out that way in real life.

I think height is culturally associated with power, and this is a source of a whole lot of misery for all concerned.

I’m a 5’11” female, and I used to get a lot of complaints from guys, specifically guys who had asked Me out, about my height. Guys my height or shorter would suddenly say my height was intimidating, or complain they had to stretch up to kiss me.

Like it was a deliberate choice I was making, to be tall, & not to make myself shorter for our date. I was wearing flats, that’s pretty much it.

Anyone who was that insecure & clueless did not get a second date. One didn’t make it all the way through the first.

I had no trouble dating shorter men, but it didn’t happen often.

Tall women get to play out other people’s insecurities about their own power, and how they feel about women with power.

And buying clothes when you’re half a foot taller than the NA norm for women is a bitch. Nina knows!

I have several tall women co-workers who are pretty sure their height cost them jobs when they were interviewed by short men. Usually the stories involve great phone interviews, then terrible experiences in the follow up face to face interview.

Yeah, you tall folks are always to first to know when it’s raining!

(Sorry. It had to be said :-P)

One of my buddies in High School always wore a fedora. That way, when the hat started to tilt, he knew to duck his head. That was before ceiling fans became popular, though. Probably wouldn’t work as well now.

I heard a story where- one of my relatives, who’s 6′ 3″ or something, was walking through a short doorway, in a house. He was walking with a full beer mug in each hand.
He hit his forehead so loud on the doorway, it made the people in the living room cringe.
He then turned to my sister and said: I don’t see your 6 foot-plus Dad…go through this doorway, often! : )

Tall issues just are so unspoken of some of us feel the need to chime in.

Plus, yeah, nobody knows who is tall on the internet until they say so. Course, even tall comes in variations. Yay being over 6′!

Being tall in a martial arts class can suck. In an actual fight it’s great being able to outreach people. In class, though, having a higher center of gravity makes it easier for people to pivot you around their center of mass. I got volunteered by my instructor to pair off with new people constantly. Which meant I got dropped from shoulder height constantly by people who hadn’t learned how to follow through on the throw. I did get really good at falling without hurting myself, though.

Decades ago I saw a very tall guy riding the campus shuttle bus at U.C. Berkeley. He was wearing a t-shirt that had obviously been customized just for him. It said:

I’m 6’11”
and no, I don’t.

I love to see Nina in that cropped shirt and shorts. She’s like an old girlfriend of mine, tall, well built and not ashamed to show it. There was nothing petite or demure about her, either and she was as sincere as the day was long. With her, what you saw was what you got, in more ways than one. “Sincerely Bold” would’ve suited her just as it suits Nina. Jackie tells us that at her core, Nina is a joyous creature and that she’s shielded by a belief that other people are good at heart. Take it from me, it’s a joy just to know such a person. She sees the as yet unknown proprietor of this shop as sincerely bold too, giving them the benefit of the doubt. They’ve put themselves and their belief on the line with their display of a crucified Jesus, but they have enough of a sense of humor to name the shop “God Be With Brew.” The noxious sort of people who style themselves as Christian don’t usually have room in their lives for that kind of whimsy. I believe this encounter will go well. Besides, Nina and Ed are supposed to having a good day together as a prelude, I assume to an epic good night, as well.

i absolutely wish people in my area actually spoke in this articulated fashion. i’d be able to communicate effectively without explaining myself too much.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.