I met a little girl last year who is a Train Driver. Her employer got a call from some random passenger complaining that, against regulation, the train driver was letting a child ride in the drivers compartment… I think she found it more amusing than offensive. But I bet her boss finds fielding calls like that failrly annoying
Sure, being a short man can be a disadvantage. Being a short man who is sensitive about his height WILL BE a disadvantage. As his parent, the last thing you need to do is model being overly sensitive.
My daughter’s best friend has always been really unusually tall and muscuar for his age (he started puberty at three!) and he has had to contend with a hell of a lot of shit about that. Little things like other parents assuming he was a much older kid so shouldn’t have a turn on the swings, bigger things like being teased constantly about his size.
I remember taking them to the science museum once and him getting lost, and me having to describe him to the staff, who asked his height. “He’s about this tall,” pointing to a point somewhere above me - I was 5"6 at the time. No, he really is only eight years old!
But the thing is, now he’s a teenager his height and overdeveloped musculature really help him. Physical bullying of him is pretty much impossible and I’ve actualy paid him to help carry stuff and do other stuff requiring strong men because he’s always been so ridiculously strong.
Even without his musculature, women will find his height attractive. He will, statistically, be more likely to get jobs than a short man of the same BMI.
For short men, the problems don’t end with childhood so I don’t think the comparison is entirely accurate.
I agree, she should have known better. He was obviously a teenager and teenage boys hate being called cute.
If it happens again and you do have the opportunity to pull the person gently aside, maybe say something like “just so you know, my son’s a teenager and he doesn’t like being called little.” (Focus on the “little.”) Make it clear that it’s not that big a deal and you understand that she didn’t want to make him feel bad, but it might be a good idea to steer clear of using that term in the future. She’d probably feel terrible about her mistake but if you tone it right you can make her only feel terrible very briefly.
I’m only 5’ 5" myself. (I may have shrunk down to 5" 4", though… I dunno.)
If I’m recalling correctly, I reached this height around seventh grade. I had been one of the bigger people in my class, and then everybody (well, a lot of people) shot past me. I remember being heartened by the realization that guys can sometimes grow even during their college years. But, sadly, that desired growth spurt never came!
I suppose I would have liked to have been taller, but I never spent much time worrying about it, since it was completely outside my control. It also helped that I hadn’t the slightest interest in sports, leaning more towards academics and nerdy interests.
By the way, my girlfriends – all three of them – were all taller than me! One looked like Gabrielle Union, another looked like Kate Jackson, and another looked like Peggy Lipton, so I didn’t have a problem finding attractive women. They all said that they liked me because I made them laugh.
I do believe that, in general, taller men seem to have an easier time navigating through life. But I have relatively little to complain about.
That being said, it was a silly thing to say, however “well-intentioned”. Some people just don’t think before opening their mouths…
It’s because we can see where we’re going in crowds.
So the man can be a few inches shorter than her, eh? 
Darn you! I can’t do that.
I would guess that she did not intend to hurt his feelings or your feelings because she is just too foolish to realize the effect she had. Alternatively, there are several other adjectives that you could substitute for “foolish”.
I would also guess that you are quite right insofar as her being extremely thoughtless about the feelings of others.
Now here is where it gets a little sticky.
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Consider that you could approach her privately and explain to her just how much she hurt his feeling and hurt your feelings. Is it worth the five minutes that would take to you?
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Consider that you could approach her privately and explain to her just how much she hurt his feeling and hurt your feelings. Explain to her that someone with her job should clearly know better and you therefore cannot help but think she intentionally tried to insult or offend you and your son and you will report her conduct to whoever her boss is. (but you should know who her boss is before you do this and you should refer to them by name).
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Consider that you could approach her privately and explain to her just how much she hurt his feeling and hurt your feelings. Explain to her that you think she is a dreadful human being and a foolish ass to boot. Tell her to think about what an increidible nasty thing she had done.
It would take you about five minutes to go through either of these three explanations. Now, ask yourself the following questions about each one:
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Would it do any good? Would she likely take what you said to heart and refrain from doing that to anyone else in future? Would that matter to you?
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Is the five minutes it would take you worth your time?
I suggest you ask both these questions with respect to each of the three above scenarios.
Then, decide whether you want to do either of the above three scenarios.
A fourth alternative is just to give her a smack in the face. But there is a good chance you might have to spend a night in jail should you do that and so it’s probably not worth doing that.
But whatever you decide, you deserve better than to be treated that way and so I wish you good luck with your choice - whatever it might be.
She may just need to be “educated” about the effect she caused and you might consider approaching her in a kind and considerate way. Do you think that would do any good?
I have my doubts, but at this point I’m not sure I would be able to pick her out of the group (there were a few women working in that office, all in the same age range and all with a pretty generic look).
My girlfriend is a youthful looking 4’8" tall 21 year old. She really hates people who treat her as a child,but for some reason, she still keeps plucking out all her grey hairs.
I’ll never understand women.
If it’s comforting at all, my brother was the smallest kid in his class (including the girls) until he was a sophomore in high school, at which point he grew a literal foot in one year. He also ate like a stevedore, slept 10 hours a day (and wanted to sleep 12 - 15) and my mother despaired of keeping him in pants and shoes (the t-shirts were mostly fine, but pants and shoes, forget it). He went from just barely 5’ to just over 6’ between his 14th and 15th birthday, and then grew another 3 inches in the next four years. I grew at a steady rate from basically birth until I hit seventeen and then I stopped.
Some people just have weirder growth patterns than others. Either way, the key is always how you let it get to you (or not).
He grew a literal foot? I can see why it was hard to keep him in pants and shoes. Was it a left foot, or a right foot?