Reaching For The Sky

Reaching for the Sky

Sal Rodriguez

I can't do it any longer. I've been doing it for at least ten years. I don't know why. Maybe out of some sort of embarrassment or shame. The time has come - I can no longer lie about my height. I'm 5'7", not 5'8", and definitely not 5'9", as I've been known to report. The charade is over.

I've had issues with my height since elementary school. At that time my reward for lack of stature was front row in the class picture - Edward Navarro and myself. I ran into him recently and eventually his bones gave out because I don't believe he stood more than 5'5".

My height has probably been one of my greatest propulsions for weight training and athleticism. Unconsciously, or probably sometimes in full awareness, believing my strength and agility will compensate for my lack of verticality.

My mother always made it a point to tell me that shorter people live longer. I don't know if this is true but I do notice, in over ten years as a personal fitness trainer, that taller people seem to be more susceptible to back and knee pain. I suppose given the choice between a lower center of gravity or joint aches I would choose the former, although I suppose I really have no choice.

My friend Bess loves Star Trek. She openly shares her desire for Patrick Stewart. One day she told me how disappointed she was upon meeting him when she saw how short he was. In the tradition of a Johnny Carson studio audience I asked, "How short was he?" "Oh," she says, "about 5'9" I think." What a shrimp, I agreed. I'm surprised he's even allowed to grace our precious idiot box. Perhaps a toupee would give him a few extra inches, so as to once again win the favor of my friend the Trekkie, or Trek-or, as she wishes to be called.

I like to think I'm in good company because for years we have all heard the accounts of people meeting Sylvester Stallone and Tom Cruise and returning with tales of, "He is so much shorter in person." Apparently the camera not only adds weight but height as well.

I'm engaging in online dating and I often come across women who, at least in cyber-fantasyland, appear to be a good match for me. They say they want a funny, confident man, someone caring, with good values, smoke, and drug free. However, quite often they do not neglect to add, "…I am attracted to tall men," often times giving a minimum height requirement of somewhere in the ballpark of 6'0". I immediately click to the next ad, paying close attention to the women that seem to have a fixation with men who are funny. Funny seems to be a big issue for a lot of women. Occasionally I log-on as a woman to check-out my competition. I have never once read that any man is requesting a funny woman. I find that very interesting. I suppose it is our job as men to entertain women but not the other way around.

I'm sure that there are plenty of people in the world that wouldn't think that 5'7" is particularly short, but I work at a fitness center that is frequented by NBA players. Yes I know, these are extreme examples, but I had the fortune of meeting Shaquille O'Neal the other day. By no means would I care to be anything over 6'0", let alone 7'1", but as I watch them exercise I'm forced daily to come to terms with nature's misgivings. I watched Shaq as he worked out with his trainer, my mother's voice echoing inside my head, and I began to wonder how long he would live. I gazed in pride as I forecasted a long life for myself while Shaq, according to my mother, may not live well into his seventies, as do the shorties in my family. Actually, well into the nineties would be more accurate. So I questioned myself, "Would I trade my body for his?" Assuming it came with his bank account of course. I had to answer no. I could not leave my mother's foreboding behind me - I will live longer than Shaq. Of course only time will be the true gauge, not my portly mom, who towers over babies at 5'0".

So today, as I stood on the scale, weighing in at 185 pounds and measuring 5'7 1/8" while wearing socks, I sighed and accepted my fate. Realizing that I will only grow shorter as I grow grayer, and hopefully not fatter.