If I had a dime for every comment or question I got related to my height, I'd be a rich little woman. If you're short too, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You get asked the same questions over and over or hear the same comment day after day. This isn't anything new and it's certainly not going to stop! Here are some of my favorite questions/comments I get on the daily.... "Can you reach the gas pedals in your car?" Uh, yes I did just drive here, didn't I? "Oh my gosh, you're so tiny!!!" This is literally one of my favorites. Like I talked about last week in my post about the picture, what am I even supposed to say back to that!? Yes I do know that I'm short.....like duhh!! It reminds me of that scene in Hairspray when Tracy tells Seaweed that she wishes every day was Negro Day, and he says "In our house, it is!". I'm short every every day of my life, nothing out of the ordinary for me! "Aww, you're so cute!" Thanks, I'm not a small child, I'm not 5, but thanks. Hey, I'd rather be cute than ugly I guess! "Can I pick you up?" Yeah this one was more popular when I was younger. But now that I'm older if I hear it I'm just like uhhhhh...okay. Like I get it, it's fun. But seriously? Find an actual toddler to pick up and throw around. "Oh, do you need me to grab that for you?" I love getting this at the grocery store. I'm always like "No. I can climb up the shelves and get it myself, thanks." *Insert awkward stare afterwards* "Do you shop at Baby Gap/The Kids Section? ......Do I look like I shop at the Baby Gap? Ugh. "Whoops, didn't see you there!" Yeah, actually you did. Funny though. "I could just put you in my bag/pocket and take you anywhere!" Okay, you better have snacks in your bag if I'm riding around in it all day! I like Doritos and chocolate, please and thank you! And last but certainly not the least annoying..... "So are you legally a midget?" Ohhhhh myyyy goddddddddd. Just because someone is short doesn't mean they're a dwarf. There's no legal papers for anyone that say "hey I'm legally short!". And if you can't figure that out by looking at me, you have the problem, not me. According to the Little People of America group (yes this is real), a dwarf is defined as an adult height of 4 feet 10 inches or under, as a result of a medical or genetic condition. The ones that ask this question, are normally the most ignorant idiots. These are just a few of my favorites! If your short like me I'm sure you totally understand the struggle. It can get annoying day after day but hey, it's all part of the territory. You gotta learn to laugh about it!
What are some of the comments/questions that you guys get? I'd love to know! Let me know by clicking the "comments" button at the top of this post! And feel free to share this with all of your friends! Stay tuned for a new post next Monday. Thanks for reading peeps! xox Sammie
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Alright so I'm gonna talk about the picture. Yeah that picture, right up there on the left. Two tall girls and that one short girl. Oh yeah, me!
Here's how it happened....My cheerleading team was having a team bonding event at a bowling alley and the volleyball team happened to be doing the same thing. We're both a group of UCF athletes so of course we stopped to talk for a bit. They're all super tall, and as cheerleaders we were all super short. Everyone thought "wouldn't it be funny if the shortest girl on our team got a picture with the tallest girls on their team?" So bam, we took the picture, it was posted, and blew up overnight! The photo with the volleyball players came out almost 5 years ago this year and it's crazy how much publicity it got. It was on the front page of Reddit for a week, an entire week! All because some tall people and a short person got together, crazy huh! And then I got to do an interview with Fox 35 News Orlando with my two volleyball friends, Taylor and Loren btw! You can watch that interview here! This photo went viral literally overnight and got me and my new friends recognized on the internet, on campus, and even out in public! I had 25 text messages from friends and family the next morning just about the photo they saw of me on the internet! It was totally a crazy but super fun time. Part of the reason I wanted to start this section of my blog is because of this photo. It shed light that there are thousands of different types of people in the world. Women come in all shapes and sizes and each one of them are beautiful! But along with this photo came TONS of nasty, rude, funny, vulgar, hilarious comments and of course lots and lots of short jokes. Reading some dirty or inappropriate comments made about me and the other girls on the internet or in tweets wasn't too fun. You get mad at people, and think how stupid can they actually be? But then you realize it's just like when people come up to you out in public and tell you you're short. That's my favorite comment to get...."Ooohhhh you're so tiny!" or "Whoa dude you're short!" Like, what do I say to that? Yes, I am? Lol. They key is to laugh with people when you think they're laughing at you. That's the best solution to all the comments, rude or not, that I've given myself. My older sister once told me, people are going to call you short but what are you gonna do about? There's nothing you can do about it...you are short. That right there....I AM SHORT! Who cares!? I'm different than a lot of people and I'm cool with it! I laugh when other people make jokes, because it's funny. I play along when people want to pick me up, why not? And I even make jokes about myself not being able to reach the top shelf because, IT'S FUNNY! If you spend all your time being mad at what other people say, you're going to spend a lot of time as an angry little person, literally. So if people could get anything from this blog post about this hilarious photo, I hope it's that being different is okay. And that playing along with the crowd is better than not playing at all. I hope this photo gave you all a good laugh like it did for us, and made you think about women and this beautiful thing called diversity. Thanks for reading and come back next Wednesday for a new story! If you got a laugh out of this photo feel free to let me know by clicking the "comments" button at the top of this page! Thanks for reading peeps! xox Sammie I'm in the Chipotle line with my boyfriend, I'm so damn excited for that burrito bowl. Thinking about everything I'm gonna get. Always a chicken bowl, white rice, pico de gallo, pinto beans, cheese, lettuce, fajita veggies, chili corn salsa, and a burrito on the bottom. Okay I'm up! *Chipotle guy speaks to me under the glass cause I'm extra short, and I'm on my tip toes over the glass just so he can hear me* Me: I'll have a chicken bowl with white rice please. Chipotle dude: Okay sure. Me: Uh, you can put a little extra chicken on that. Chipotle dude: Yeah, no problem. Me: I'll take pinto beans, veggies and uh oh wait you can put a few more veggies on that.... Chipotle dude: Oh yeah, okay. Me: Okay uhhh lets do some salsa (as if I didn't know I was already gonna get it) , a little bit of sour cream, oh wait could you actually put a little more salsa on that? Chipotle dude: Sure. Me: Great thanks! Okay then I'm gonna have cheese and lettuce and that'll be it then. Woo, Great. Can't wait to eat this!!! Rio (my boyfriend) orders after me. Rio: I'll do a steak burrito, brown rice, black beans, cheese, guacamole and lettuce. Chipotle dude: TWO SCOOPS OF STEAK, EXTRA RICE AND BEANS, LOADS UP THE CHEESE, GUACAMOLE FOR HIM AND 5 FRIENDS, AND A SPRINKLE OF LETTUCE. Me: WTF!!!! It's a reoccurring theme when I go out to food places that I'm given significantly less food than my boyfriend, or the linebacker behind me....just because I'm small! You can always tell they're eyeing you up at Cici's when you take 4 pieces of macaroni and cheese pizza. They're thinking, "She's never gonna eat all those." Uh, yeah I will, and I'll be back up for seconds in about 5 minutes! Even when I'm getting ice cream at Cold Stone or somewhere similar, they look at me and give me slightly less than everyone else in my group. Is it a common thought that short people can't eat as much as an average sized person? Do people assume I can only eat a piece of lettuc just because I'm more petite than Big Betty behind me? Yeah Big Betty may be able to eat more than me but hey, that doesn't mean you get to skip out on my extra sprinkles! I feel like I almost get discriminated (if you will) against when I go to a food truck, or restaurant and they get to see me before they serve me. I'm paying just as much for those sprinkles or that burrito so I better get the same amount as everyone else! Do my other tiny friends feel this way too? You know what the solution is to this my friends? Ordering food online! They can't see you, they can't give you less cheese and guacamole than everyone else, and you get to chow down! Muahh!!
I'd love to hear what you all think! Leave your thoughts by clicking the "comments" button at the top of this post! Look forward to my next post on Monday, and an all new #theshortgirldiaries next Wednesday! Thanks for reading peeps! xox Sammie You wake up and slide off the bed about two feet to the floor. You head to the shower where you have to use the shampoo bottle to hit the top of the shower head to move it down so it's not spraying you in the face when you get in. When you get out you grab your towel and walk to the closet where you need to use your stool or hop until you can reach your robe at the top of the closet. Once you're all ready for work you go out to the kitchen to grab your lunch for the day. You jump on top of the counter to grab a tupperware container because you can barely reach the bottom shelf. You go into the fridge to grab your left overs but you have to step up into the fridge, submerging basically your entire body inside, to get to the back of the fridge where your leftovers sit. Wooo, got your workout in for the day! Now that you've got lunch for the day you head to your car where you need to adjust the seat because you're wearing flats that day and have to move a LITTLE bit closer to reach the pedals. It's super sunny driving on the highway at 8am so you put your sun visor down to block the sun. Of course, it's meant for your 6'1" boyfriend and would block the sun for him perfectly, but doesn't even cover your eyes, let alone the top of your head. So you have to put your sunglasses on and sit straight up, closer to the steering than you already are, to see past the sunlight. Blinded, great. When you get to your office building you get in the elevator and immediately get shoved to the back corner where you have Bob's belly fat rubbing up next to you and of course he didn't shower. John's elbow is eye level with you and Susie's boobs are hitting you in the side of the face whenever the elevator jumbles a bit stopping at each floor. Just fabulous. Once you get to your desk you sit criss cross apple sauce because your feet don't touch the floor no matter how low the chair goes. You're forced to use the bowls on the bottom shelf to make your morning oatmeal because you can't jump on the counters at work to get to the top shelf, hello, so unprofesh. Then during potty breaks you can't use the handicap bathroom, which is always the cleanest one, because you can't reach to squat over it, and you can't sit without feeling like you're going to fall in because your feet don't touch the floor. Dirty, stinky stall number 1 it is for you! During your staff meeting the executives of the company are in town. When they introduce everyone, you see the executives of your company looking at each other wondering who brought their child to work that day when they say your name. Awesome. When you leave work you run really quickly in the parking garage to your car in hopes nobody will think you are a child and want to kid nap you. All the while you're almost getting run over by the hick in the big blue truck who didn't see you because his lift kit is taller than you are. You stop at the nearest gas station to pump gas and buy a bottle of wine, you've had a long day and you deserve it! You wait in line with a 1.5L bottle of Moscato wine (you really deserve it) and get stares from everyone walking past you in the line. They're waiting to get a good laugh when you get denied at the counter. Jokes on them, you're almost 23 and have the evidence to prove it. The teller takes your ID and laughs and says, "Oh honey you look like your 14!" You'll take it. You get 12 most of the time so that's a step up. Finally going home to enjoy your wine, ahhhhh... You get home to take the dog outside cause she's been in the house all day. You put her on the leash and take her for a walk around the neighborhood. All the while the neighbors are actually wondering who's walking who because you're being dragged along the side walk by your own dog. When it's time to go to sleep you put on your over sized t-shirt and leap up on your bed where you get all cuddled up. You sleep comfortably knowing your feet will never be cold because they aren't even close to reaching the end of the bed. You fall asleep and do it all again the next day. Welcome to #theshortgirldiaries! So that's pretty much a day in life of a 4'8" girl, aka ME!
I wanted to start this section of my blog for my fellow pint sized friends to shed light on the experiences and comments we get on a day to day basis. I've been tiny my entire life (obviously) and it's sparked some interesting conversations, weird looks, and definitely amazing opportunities. I want to share my life experiences being so tiny in a giant's world and compare with all of you, too! I've gotten countless emails and messages from fellow cheerleaders, girls who get picked on for being short, even from concerned mothers who are nervous their daughters won't lead normal lives because of being too short. I'm here to tell you I've never even been close to the 5-foot mark and I am A-Okay! I want to inspire and empower other girls who are my size who are told over and over again that you can't do something because of your size. You CAN do anything you want to do regardless of height, weight, skin color, your shoe size or anything else! Let's share our stories and create the toughest group of tiny girls this world has seen! I hope this has inspired some of you, or given you a few laughs if anything. Keep updated for posts every Wednesday. And don't forget to leave your comments by clicking on the "comments" button at the top of this blog post. Follow me on social media to stay up to date with my tiny but hectic life! Thank you so much for reading peeps! xox Sammie |
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