To me it was normal. Having grown up to 5’1" with lots of 6’4++ brothers I was always considered the Fun Size little older sister and had no problem with 6’++ guys and Fun size girl friends who wanted to hang with us. Every guy I ever dated was 6’+ My husband is 6’6.
Do you ever try to sneak in a sideways looksy at the guy’s junk at the urinal next to you?
I can’t believe nobody’s asked you about travel!
Do you avoid long trips due to discomfort?
What is your order of preference for long trips - bus, plane, train, boat, car, etc?
Any horror stories around being a tall guy on a long trip?
Has your height influenced your career choices?
I LOVE basketball and would love to have a few extra inches. Have you played? Have you dunked? Do you play any sports and does your height help you in that sport?
Not the OP, but I can speak to this one. We travel a fair amount, often to places requiring a long (10+ hour) plane flight. I definitely wouldn’t avoid a trip simply because of the plane flight, but it is by far the worst part of any trip. Sadly, business class is obscenely expensive for long international flights (although United Economy Plus has become a reasonable option), so your only alternative is to show up crazy early and hope you can get an exit row seat. Luckily, international flight attendants are generally kind, understanding people and more often than not have managed to wrangle me one, even after the initial check showed that nothing was available.
But several times, I’ve been stuck in a regular seat. It sucks, but it’s not the end of the world: you take everything out of the seat pocket and stick it in an overhead bin, then scoot your butt back as far as you can and stick your feet as far forward as you can and your knees will only be pressed against the seat in front of you, but not jammed. You do however have to explain to the person in front of you that they won’t be able to recline their seat (which sucks for them). This conversation often starts when they try to figure out why their seat recline button seems to be broken. You’re trying to recline through bone, that’s why! Stop it.
I was like the OP where I didn’t play in high school and college (and now really wish I had, both because it’s fun and to have developed better early fundamentals). I started playing in my mid-twenties and it’s a great game when you’re tall. Height makes up for a lot of skill. I play with guys who would be absolutely devastating with some extra height, making it all the more insulting that I’m out there lurching around, just wasting it.
But there really isn’t anything better than a good block. All of my favorite basketball moments are blocking-related. I’m chomping at the bit to get back on the court (tore my ACL earlier this year, can’t play until early next year :mad:).
I had this done to me once. I sat down in my seat and the very large, mean-looking black guy sat down behind me, leaned forward and told me not to even think about reclining during the flight. He wasn’t nice about it at all. The intonation and body language said, “or I’ll kick your ass.” Man, that ruined my flight, but it’s not like I was going to recline my seat on some mean NBA basketball player type just to exert my rights. I rarely bother reclining airline seats anyway, and if he’d asked nice there’s no way I’d have protested. I suppose the guy flew a lot and was sick of the routine, but he was still an uber twat about it.
That sucks. Flights are pretty shitty for everyone, no need to preemptively be a dick to someone for potentially doing something they have every right to do and haven’t even done yet. I tend to adopt an apologetic tone, and phrase it along the lines of “I’m so sorry, but that’s just not going to be possible with my freakishly long legs”.
Although once after having this conversation, someone waited until I went to the bathroom and then fully reclined anyway. I’ll admit I spent much of the rest of the flight jabbing my knees into their back in a variety of uncomfortable ways. I’m not a perfect person.
Thanks. Don’t worry, I don’t bear a grudge against tallies. Been friends with 'em, dated 'em, etc. I know they’re usually big pussy cats.
Have you considered getting a smaller car, removing the driver’s seat, and driving from the “back”?
I had a coworker, only about 6’2" (IIRC), but I helped him modify his seat. We replaced the driver’s seat mounts and the headrest posts to give him more room and a higher headrest. The car had plenty of headroom, but the seat wasn’t quite adjustable enough.
As already answered, it is a reference against the scale as a whole. A 0.1 percentile is tiny, a 99.9 percenter is huge.
Hell, I’m 5’10" and been asked that. To be fair, one was someone in a wheelchair, but a couple times it’s been smaller ladies who just can’t reach.
My brother is 6’5", and he has stretch marks on his back from his teenage growth spurt. Do you? What’s the fastest rate that you grew when you were getting tall?
I don’t play basketball, either, but it’s probably because, at 5’2", it’s just not much fun sucking so bad.
Its raining (Spits in Bob’s eye) 
(Couldn’t resist. I’m 6’6", btw.