Which is a very good question which is why I decided to turn it into a blog post. (god Formspring is so useful)

To start off, I think you can guess that I’m totally not ashamed of my height due to the fact that I named my blog after it wtf.  Note to haters: please think of something else to diss me about because calling me a midget doesn’t work.

I’ve been short all my life.  My earliest memory of primary school is having to stand at the front of the class line at assembly.  Whenever we had to line up, it was always according to height and I was always at the front wtf.  Maybe not first in front but second or third.  As a kid, this didn’t bother me because I got to be first for everything LOL.

First to brush my teeth when the dentist and nurses came with their annual school dental checkup.

First to collect Milo when the Milo van rolled around.

As I grew up a little, when other girls around me were hitting puberty and shooting up, I waited patiently for my growth spurt.

Sure, boobs came a little slower (better late than never, better small than none) but they came in the end (By the end I mean at 19 fml).  But the growth spurt never did.

It still somehow didn’t bother me.

But then again, I looked like this from age 12-15 and that didn’t faze me!  In fact, I now realize that I was the most thickskinned teenager in the world.

I delusionally thought I was still quite pretty WTF.  And like I was telling Tze the other day and she laughed until nearly fell off her chair, I thought a lot of boys liked me WTF and if getting down from the bus, a boy accidentally put his hand on mine on the bus pole, I would believe that he likes me HAHAHAHAHAHAH.

Of course no boy liked me wtf.  But I guess my misplaced confidence helped me cos I think I did have a lot of friends, even if all of us were nerds wtf.

Anyway, digression.

The only time I ever felt upset about being short was when I was seventeen and I overheard a boy I liked telling his friends that he would never like me because I was too short (and flat).  I hated my height for a while.  Then my misplaced confidence and optimism helped me forget about it wtf.

Since then, I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything negative for my height.  Maybe because I have the least depressive personality of anyone I know.  I’m also unnaturally optimistic.

To all the short girls out there who are insecure about your height: WHY!?!

1. First of all, you’re a girl and girls are not expected to be tall anyway.  It could be worse; you could have been a guy.  Do you know how hard short guys have it! (see, this is how you be optimistic)

(To short guys: sorry I don’t know how you feel.  But if you feel bad, look at it this way.  At least you’re a guy!  You don’t have glass ceilings at work places and gender discrimination!  You will also never be susceptible to vaginal mutilation.  And less likely to contract HIV I think)

2. Second of all, being short is an ice-breaker.  Seriously.  I suspect people have greater propensity to feel kindly towards shorter girls.  Say, if I make a joke about my height, it always gets a laugh, and people may add on to it and people bond over that (making jokes, not over my height)  And if they get closer to me, I realize that people tease me for being short affectionately, not in a bullying way.  I don’t see how is that a bad thing.

3. Shorter girls tend to be cute.

4. Everyone (male and female alike) feels protective over small girls.  They’ll let you squeeze to the front of a crowd without glaring at you too much cos you won’t block their view.  They’ll help you open your canned drinks wtf.

5. You will always look young.  Cannot think of a better reason than this.

6. People remember you.  Would you rather be remembered for being short (and cute) or forgotten?  Once a bouncer at a club in Miami didn’t believe I was over 21 although I had ID.  He told me I had to jump up and touch the sign before he’d let me in WTF so I did.  The key is to not take yourself so seriously and you’ll be fine.  The bouncer loved it!  He laughed and let me in, and looked out for me afterwards to say bye. 🙂

Its not all awesome all the time though.  A few years ago, my height was an obstacle to me.  Not my height per se, but the whole fact that I look very young.

I’d been working for one or two years at that time so I wasn’t an inexperienced noob.  I knew my stuff at work and my bosses knew it.  But to my clients, they couldn’t accept recommendations or advice from a tiny girl with blond/brown hair.  They were all in their 30s (some married, some with kids) and I think they couldn’t get it in their heads that someone who looked like this would have anything important to add.

That was something I really struggled with.  Maybe it didn’t help that I’d waltz in to meeting rooms with my pink Hello Kitty thermos and fluffy pens HAHAHA.  But yea, it was so bad that my bosses had to sit me down and tell me they knew I was capable but nobody else could see that.  I had to do something about it, or else no clients would have any confidence in me and I’d never progress in my career.

I was quite crushed actually cos that was the first time I realized my height was a disadvantage to me.  Every time I made a recommendation in a meeting, they’d nod and all but then they’d go and DO OPPOSITE OF WHAT I SAID.  Frustrating or not leh!  Then when my boss came in and said the same exact thing, they absorbed it and followed his advice to a T.

What did I do in the end?

Height cannot change what.  But everything else can.  I started putting my hair into ponytails instead of curls.  (doubly effective cos I stopped playing with my hair at meetings too).  Whenever got meeting, I’d make sure I wear heels.  And I spoke louder at meetings and acted like everyone was an imbecile. HAHAHAHAH.

No la not really!  But I kept reminding myself that in the whole room I have the most experience and knowledge about what I specialize in already and I could talk rubbish and still people would believe me because I’m the expert.

It worked leh.  The people who used to feedback that they thought I was childish (and hence irresponsible) said I totally changed their minds 😀 Got one fella even said I look taller now LOLOL.

Lessons learned:

I can’t help being short.  But there’s no reason why it should bother me unless I let it.  I love being this height!  I would never change it (not like I can anyway)

P/S: one more reason why it’s good to be short!  Closer to the ground, fall also not so painful wtf.