Did I crash the tall club?

Yes... I did go to the tall club dance. I did not do any dancing because of my knee, but I did go...and had a pretty good time. I was a little nervous going there, not knowing anyone. I didn't know if it would be a couples thing or if most of the people would be much older than I am. As I was walking through the hall of the place where the dance was going to be held, two men entered through an outside door and smiled at me and asked, are you possibly looking for the tall club? While I am not sure why they would make THAT assumption, I said yes. One of the men was perhaps in his 60s and kind of took me under his wing. We walked into the room where the tall club was and believe it or not, I silenced the room...not for long, but I did get some attention....imagine that...and I didn't even have my heels on. This older gentleman, who I will call Arty, surveyed the room and said, well most of the tables are full, but let's go sit at that table up there. I will sit with you. So he did. Within moments, several other tall club members were coming over and introducing themselves to me. Some had seen me in town earlier in the day... after a few introductions people introduced themselves using my name... hi "TallGal" I'm...so and so.... So apparently news spread quickly throughout that room! The majority of people there were female, and probably at least 6 years older than me. I did meet some interesting people. They were very welcoming and friendly and determined to have me continue contact with the club. I got some email addresses and phone numbers, and think that I may stay in touch with some of the people there. I feel conflicted about officially joining an organization like this because I feel like I love being tall and don't need to belong to a group to know that. But on the other hand, I feel like there is an understanding amongst the members and it is another way of meeting new people. Two of the people I met last night are "famous" in the tall club world. I met Miss Tall Club International, Miss Jane Baldwin. She is my age, also a teacher, and lives in Portland, OR. She was very friendly and shared with me a little of her experiences as Miss Tall Club International.... I gotta admit, that I was never a pageant girl, BUT... I did have, for a brief moment...or two...thoughts of entering such a pageant... why? Well I think that it would be a good platform for doing public speaking about being tall and seeing height as part of diversity... Jane shared with me that she is shy and does not yet feel comfortable doing press for her position. In her role, she gets to visit many cities throughout the US and Canada, paid for by the Tall Club International. I could do that. Whoa whoa.... what am I saying? That I want a tiara and a title? Me...who has lived my life not defining myself by my height would consider that? Not that I would win...there would be other competitors. Oh well.... maybe I will start working on my beauty queen wave, just in case! The other "famous" Tall Clubber that I met last night was Dave Rasmussen. Dave is known to be the tallest member of any tall club organization. At 7'4" I had to look way up. He has been the subject of a documentary on The Learning Channel a few years ago. He was disappointed that I was not up for dancing last night, due to my knee, but said that he hoped the next time our paths cross my knee would be dance ready. One of the activities last night was raising money for a scholarship. It involved buying raffle tickets and putting them into items that you may want to win. The items included beauty products and alcohol. (I will leave it up to you to determine where my tickets may have gone!) But...anyway...Dave gave me about 10 if his tickets as a way of welcoming me. Very nice. I did not win. The tickets were sold individually, by arm length, or by body length...and yes, you could try to use someone else's body, IF you gave them one of your tickets. Dave had a lot of people trying to buy his body. It was awkward trying to talk with dave, not because of his height, but because it was fairly loud in there, and Dave's speech pattern is similar to that of Sandy Allen, the world's tallest woman. I am not sure how to describe it without sounding insulting, which would not be my intent. I think if I were in a setting with him where there was little background noise and we were sitting across from one another, I would be more easily able to understand him. He was a very nice person. The other people were very nice too. They really want me to be involved, and said to not let the distance from here to Boston be an issue, that I would be welcome to stay at someone's house if I came to events, which is very sweet.

I did not know what to expect by crashing the party last night...but it was nice...to take myself out of my comfort zone...to put myself in a situation where I need to carry on conversations with strangers...and I did it, successfully. Did I meet my tall knight in shining armor...nope... do I see that happening as part of this group? Nope... but... I do see that there were some genuine and kind people there who I could see myself befriending. I see that possibly there would be people I would want to visit as friends, not just tall friends...and people who I would welcome to stay with me sometime. So... I am glad I went. I did have a lot of people ask how tall I am...but not in a Holy $hit kind of way...but in a celebratory manner.

There was a man there who stood out to me... She was about 6 feet tall, perhaps my mom's age... and she seemed lonely. She seemed to fit in with the other people in the group, and had some friends, but seemed a bit like a wallflower. I did talk with her, but it was definitely me asking her a lot of questions...but one thing was apparent...she depends on that group and while she may sit back and watch, she enjoys it. I think for her, she enjoys the outings more than the dances...but she has fun. It was nice to go to an event where I could carry on conversations, while standing in a group, without having to bend over to hear them...

There were lots of people taking lots of pictures...I will let you know if any get posted on the Boston club's site and share them with y'all if I can.

Enough with the tall tales... I gotta get a move on. I need to get to school to get some things done for a meeting I have in the morning. And... I need to figure out what I am going to teach this week...