I am in the 'short' category. I'm 5 foot 3 inches tall. I've been this height for most of my life. My twin grandsons used to call me "small grandma". Don't know where they got off thinking I was short - they are short for their age. I've never thought of myself as overly short. My dad was like 6 foot 1 inch - why didn't I get some of that height? I can relate to short people, though. Let me give you a few examples of what we 'short' people have to deal with.
We don't typically purchase anything that is on a high shelf. This can involve serious injury if you do. First off, you cannot actually read anything that might possibly be written on the packaging in regards to price or description. Should you decide that you might want to purchase it, you won't be able to reach it without standing on your tippy toes. Then you can only reach it if it is at the front of the shelf. If the item is not faced to the front of the shelf you are then required to purchase at your own risk. You might need to actually climb on the bottom shelf and reach as far back as you can with your fingertips to inch the can or box to the front of the shelf. Another option is to find something long (yardstick, flyswatter, anything) to try and inch the can or box forward until you can reach it. Another option, if the item is not to far back is the jump and scoot method. You jump up and reach back with your hand hoping to make contact and bring the item forward to a reachable area of the shelf.
Jeans!! It is impossible to find a pair of jeans (or pants or skirts, or basically anything) to fit. Let's just say that if you are short - you should become an expert at hemming. And yes, I know they have a section for 'petite'. Petite is typically for short women who weigh less than 120 pounds. So you either learn to hem your own clothes or become very good friends with someone who can do so for you. The other options would be to just cuff up your jeans (will not work for skirts or dresses) or just let them drag and walk on them.
Storing items in your kitchen. You become very good friends with the bottom two shelves of your upper cabinets. Anything above that requires either stretching or climbing. Stretching will allow you to reach the third shelf possibly. After that you must climb. I recommend purchasing a step ladder and using it. If you are like me you will become an expert on climbing on top of the cabinet and walking along the counter top to reach items on the upper shelves. You must then decide on which option works best for you when it comes to dismounting from cabinet level. When I was younger I just hopped down. I am not as agile now as I used to be and actually have to contemplate the best way to leave cabinet level.
The touch pads at check out lanes are also difficult to use. I have to stand on my tiptoes to read the screen and punch in my number or sign the box or whatever. They should design those things to move thus allowing people who might be under 5'5" the ability to tilt the thing down to a level that allows them to read it. I swear every time I use one of these I think of the time my dad remodeled our bathroom when I was a kid. He actually called me into the bathroom to check the height the sink should be at to make it easy for me to use. I'm sure the height I opted for was not convenient for him but I appreciated not having to stand on a stool to wash my hands.
Shoes. Now being short does not affect your shoe size. But it is not uncommon for short women to wear heels. i used to and on occasion I still wear wedges. I do this not to make myself taller but just because I love shoes and if I purchase a pair of heels or wedges it's because I really like the way they look. Now, I recently purchased a pair of wedges. These were however, not just wedges at the heel but the entire shoe had a wedge of at least one inch with the heel of the shoe being probably two inches in height.
I put the shoes on and wow!!! I felt almost dizzy from the height! And looking into the mirror was a whole different story. My face was not at the bottom of the mirror where I typically see myself. Weird!! I've got to say though, that the weirdest part of wearing these shoes was picking something up off the floor. The floor was a loonnng way down. I don't know how tall people do this on a daily basis. I thought I was going to topple over just picking something up off the floor.
I guess you get used to whatever you have to deal with whether you are short or tall. There are not to many people that make me feel 'tall' but there are a couple. Bottom line though as I like to say "my feet reach the ground just like yours.".
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