I'm going to keep it kind of brief today. I was browsing the website Reddit a couple of days ago specifically on the forum for tall people when I came across someone saying they had social anxieties and they think its due to people constantly coming up to him and treating him as a spectacle. I wouldn't go as far as to say that I have social anxieties but I do agree with him that sometimes I feel like people treat me more as spectacle and not as an actual person. I don't necessarily blame the people but more often than not people approach someone whose different from them and constantly point out the fact that they are different. The thread had an interesting post and sort of an inspirational to speech to other tall people who feel like people aren't actually interested in you as a person but rather for the fact that you are tall.
"I'm 43 now and I felt the same way at your age. Still do to some extent. I can give you some good and bad news - bad news first. This isn't going to go away. When you're very tall, you are going to get asked the same questions by strangers pretty much every day of your life. More bad news: aside from deliberately looking threatening or scary, there's nothing you can do about it, and avoiding it the way I did (by shopping at 3 in the morning) only makes YOUR life harder. Becoming a hermit doesn't work and slouching doesn't work. I've tried both.
The good news is that you can learn to deal with the unwanted attention effectively and efficiently, so it doesn't interrupt your life. There are great things about being tall, so keep those in mind. Most people who ask questions are just curious. They aren't interested in you as a person, they just see a tall guy and want to interject themselves somehow. It's sort of selfish- it's about them, not you, so don't take it too personally. They're going to ask exactly the same questions every time, so develop a set of standard answers (and not the rude ones). I answer questions politely, but I use body language to discourage the conversation. This is typical for me: "Whoa, you're really tall!" "Yeah, I'm 6'10." I say my height because it's inevitably going to be the next question anyway. The important part is that while I'm saying it, I give a polite smile, and after my line, I look away. The smile is important- lets them know you're not an asshole. Looking away is a clear signal you're not interested in more questions. If they ask another, do the same thing again- looking away each time keeps the unwanted conversations to a minimum, trust me! This technique puts YOU in control of the conversation every time, and that's important."
http://www.reddit.com/r/tall/comments/zz0db/being_tall_with_social_anxiety/
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