An exciting day for me (Richard Vickery) as I have just opened up the new blog for tallsingles.co.uk.
I thought I should start by introducing myself, so here is a tall diary about me:
A bit about me (Richard Vickery CEO Tallsingles.co.uk)
I’m Richard Vickery, a certified accountant who is 6 ft 7 inches tall. Am I tall? Well, there is no magic number for being tall, but I feel tall. Having started this website for tall dating and talking to other “tall” people I know I am by no means the tallest person on the planet, but I do share the tall problems which many tall people encounter.
For me, I don’t really recall standing out at junior school. I was a little bit taller than the other kids, but not by much. In fact, I don’t even recall kids saying anything really to me about my height at that age. It wasn’t until I hit senior school that I had a big growth spurt. It came from my legs as I remember I had a very high waistline (think Simon Cowell) which kids teased me about at school.
I was also terrible at sports, which was a really good way for other kids to tease me. I remember kids saying I could “just step over the hurdles” and “high jump should be easy”. But of course athleticism doesn’t come with height and so I was always well behind the other kids. My mum always had to let down the turn-ups on my trousers so they didn’t stop halfway up my leg. I had to wear a different type of shirt so the sleeves were not too short. All these little things, you wouldn’t think other kids would spot, but they did and they would always make a point of it!
I can’t remember all the names I got called, certainly “Lurch” (the tall one from the Adams family), “BFG” (short for big friendly giant), “tower” (an obvious one) and “lanky”. It must have had an effect on me as I do feel I hunched at school, frightened to stand tall, wanting and wishing I was much smaller. Terrible now when I think of it, but at the time all you want to do is fit in!
Just I was finishing school, I found a sport that I love and am fairly good at, which turns out to be golf. But again being tall makes it harder for me than other shorter people. For example, I do have to have longer clubs, so I can’t just go into a golf shop and buy a club I need to order one in. I can’t wear the golf branded t-shirts or trousers as they never fit. Even at the golf club which I joined, they decided I had to have a nickname, so someone came up with “stretch” and I am still known to this day as “stretch” rather than Richard.
As you get older it gets easier to live with
I found things are slightly easier to deal with at university and work, there is much less name calling, but I still frequently get asked “how tall are you?” and “do you play basketball?” But I think the biggest change now is that I have admitted to myself that I am tall and that I am different in height to others around me. I try to walk tall, stand tall and not worry about being different. I have come to embrace the fact that I am tall and not worry about it. Yes, of course, it is annoying that people still point out that I am tall and yes sometimes it still does get me down, but on the whole, I laugh it off or say something witty back!
Now I admit that I am tall all I need to do is manage that “tallness”. There are many bad things associated with being tall, lots of them you can’t do anything about, so I try and focus on the things that I can do something about. For example, I try and eat healthily, exercise regularly and look after my body. I know that my back could become an issue in the future so I am trying to look after it now. That includes stretching it in the morning and evening, sitting with the correct posture at work, standing tall (no slouching), sitting with the correct posture and always keeping a straight back.
One last thing….
We have a tall community and I would love it if you became part of it!
It’s a Facebook group called “What’s the weather like up there” (We hope you like the name as much as us!), it’s great to share tall stories like this one, or tall humour, jokes, basically anything tall-related. You can join by clicking HERE.
Now it’s over to you.. tell me your tall life story
So that’s a bit about me and my tall life. What about you and yours? Would love to hear your story!
Thanks for your time,
Richard Vickery (CEO tallsingles.co.uk)