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The Dangers of Being Different
When the world is not set up for you
When someone else drives my car, the first thing I notice when I drive it again is that my seat is pushed way back, and the rear-view mirror needs to be tilted so I can see it. I’m short, so just about everything has to be adjusted if anyone else drives my car.
What isn’t so adjustable is the seat belt — it perfectly fits an average man with a height of 5’9”.
But when I put on my seat belt, it becomes apparent that this contraption was not exactly designed for a smaller person. Rather than sitting comfortably over my chest, the belt tends to slide around toward my shoulder.
This made me pay attention when I saw a recent study that shorter people are more likely to die in ICUs. Interestingly, we don’t yet know why. Is there something inherent in people’s bodies that makes them more likely than others to die? Or does the fault lie in the hospital equipment and medical staff around them?
On the flip side, taller people seem to do just fine. They tend to report being happier with their lives. They also make more money, which can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars more over a lifetime. The reasons why aren’t crystal clear, but researchers agree that tall people tend to be treated better.
