Ask Amy: ‘Best of’ column scales the heights
Silently nodding might convey a fairly neutral reaction that also says, “Yep. Here we are. Again.”
When someone outright asks your height, the quickest way out is to simply tell them, without starting a conversation. You will make more progress in retraining yourself — rather than educating other people to behave differently. [February 2012]
Dear Amy: I had a petite teacher who was also very attractive. She would usually answer questions about her height by using a line from a routine by Groucho Marx: “I am well over 4 feet!”
– Jim
Dear Jim: I will be using this line frequently myself, now. Thank you. [March 2012]
Dear Amy: I am petite and was also a middle-school teacher. I watched my students start off shorter than I was and grow way taller.
When they came back to school after the summer, they always commented on how “short I had become.” It was a reason to joke, and I enjoyed it.
– Also Petite
Dear Petite: Your willingness to be a good-humored human yardstick for your students tells me you were in the right profession.
Dear Amy: A few months ago, I started talking to a woman I met through a mutual friend of ours. I’m 24 and she’s 22.
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