Tall People

[shermarama]

That 30th party last week - the bloke-whose-party-it-was's fiancee's father is a tall man, and on the board of directors of the UK Tall Persons' Club, and we happened to be on the same tube heading back north where I got some hard sell about a social meeting of the tall club this weekend. I've always been a bit dubious about this sort of thing - one of my fellow double maths students at sixth form college joined Mensa, but soon decided not to bother any more because it seemed to be entirely about people congratulating themselves for being clever. He went to Oxford to do maths, but wasn't the sort to congratulate himself about it. But I've heard of the Tall Club over the years and never given it a try and here was the opportunity so I thought I should, so I went along last night to a pub near Marble Arch. There were many tall people - the women were about my height, more or less, and the men ranged from just a bit taller to over seven foot - but, well, I don't think it's the club for me. It's amusing to be in a room where I can't see over people, and it was even more amusing to see poor Chris looking tiny, but it's not something I need. I have a bit of grief getting clothes and sometimes it's quite frustrating but talking to other people with the same problems isn't so much help as, e.g., learning to make my own. It was a bit weird trying to have conversations. What do I talk to the seven foot man about? On the basis that I can get bored discussing my height with people who find it worth remarking on, he must be really really bored with that, and yet, what else do I know about him? What else is he interested in, what else does he do? Or does he want to talk about height anyway because his life has ended up revolving around it because other people find it unusual? I mean, people were being friendly, which was fine as far as the 'so where have you come from, how did you hear about the club' stage, but it was a bit difficult to get beyond that. We ended up talking about music and bands to an enthusiastic bloke from Wembley for a while, but you know, I don't think the common interest of being tall helped with that particularly. In short, better to have a common interest in something you do than something you are, which I think I knew already. Oh well.

Now, Chris is away for the weekend learning to drive boats. I've got a big list of stuff I could be doing and I'm not sure which of it to do. I've been looking for a chance to handwash my car for what seems like months now, and this could be it, apart from the fact that it's bloody cold out there, and I've just heard some football-type singing already which tells me there's a match this afternoon, which makes the street outside a more awkward place to be since this street usually seems to end up with several police vans and ambulances parked down the middle of it. I don't think the police would take kindly to requests to shift over so that I can get to the door sills properly.

One thing I am planning on doing today, though, is going to Vagabonds this evening, where I am expecting there to be Goth foolishness, impressive staircases and decent beer. Anyone else?

Comments

[yiskah.livejournal.com]

The Tall Club! Very interesting to hear a first-hand account: I have a (female) friend who is very tall indeed, but who has always had the same attitude as you to the Tall Club; however her mother did end up dating a guy she met through it.

[shermarama]

Many of the people there were older. The man who convinced me to come along had only joined a few years before; he'd got divorced, lost a lot of friends in the way that unfortunately happens and found a whole new social group in it. It works for some people, I'm sure, I'd just rather be doing than being, sort of thing.

[blue-mai.livejournal.com]

oh oh. Vagabonds. i was planning on going but i'm hanging out with [Unknown site tag] tonight and i dunno what she wants to do and it's problematically nowhere-near-step-free-access. i may well come along later though, if everyone else heads to bed early enough.

also, the Tall Club sounds kinda interesting - cos actually i'm quite up for things that get people together rather arbitrarily - you can't base an entire social scene around being tall, really - and what would make me more uncomfortable is going to something where people supposedly share interests that they can bond over and have conversations about. dunno, maybe that's just me. i can see it just being not your cup of tea but more on age and how it functions for the people going, than that it's a funny thing to get people together over.

[shermarama]

Arbitrarily I can go for - that's how Tube Walking works for me, but it's still something you do. Sharing a common interest that you just talk about wouldn't necessarily work as well, (mind you, how does LJ work, being just a talking shop?) but something like the diving club works. Diving itself is dramatic, stuff happens, and you have to put your trust in the person you pair up with, so you bond and then you find yourself talking about all sorts of rubbish with people.

[dakeyras.livejournal.com]

I'll be at Vagabonds - see you there!

[tonithegreat.livejournal.com]

Wow, I wonder if we have such a thing as a tall club in Florida these days. My maternal fetal medicine specialist told me that children with really extreme marfan syndrome characteristics tended to be the results of pairings of very tall couples, and apparently there was a great upsurge of such pairings in the 70s and 80s because of the popularity of tall clubs then.

I wonder how much of the underlying purpose of the tall club is really about finding a mate of a similar height to oneself. I tend to feel bad for women who limit themselves to dating guys taller than them. It just seems like a really illogical criteria to use in mate selection to me.

[shermarama]

I hadn't thought about that; there's probably good reasons to avoid the more extreme pairings, aren't there?

I'm sure that a good amount of the drive is to find a mate, although many of the people there were older and possibly not going to breed again. But I know what you mean about women looking for taller men. It's always seemed to me to belong in an older age, where a tall woman would present the wrong image of not being deferential to her husband or some such. My bloke looked a bit wrong at the meeting because he's four inches shorter than me, but it's not something that makes any difference at all in normal life.

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

I saw these folks (http://www.amberandjade.com/) in Greenwich Market the other week and thought of our conversation about shoes ages ago. Not sure if this is still relevant but thought I'd pass the link on just in case.

[shermarama]

Oo, yes, looks like they'll be worth a look. I tend to avoid anywhere mail-order because it costs an absurd of money to try boots on that way, but I could go there and have a try directly. Thanks.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't have been there even if I was not as sick as a parrot.