# "Little People" question... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-people-question/173907 "2003-05-08T15:15:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Vixenation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/278dde/32.png) [@Vixenation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vixenation)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-people-question/173907/21 "2003-06-03T18:56:06Z")
I’m mostly around people of English, Italian, Asian, Irish, Russian, Latin, and other such European descent. I suppose there are some Scandinavian and Dutch, as there are some African. I know many of my friends that say it are teasing me, but the last 5-10 people I met commented on how short I was. One even yelled across the store “stop trying to be tall!” when I was trying on a pair of 1 1/2 inch heel knee-high boots. It sucks being a short girl in a tall person’s world. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-people-question/173907/22 "2003-06-03T22:08:44Z")
Heh. I am reminded of a column Harlan Ellison wrote (_An Edge in My Voice_) in which he describes his correspondence with a “little” reader who objected to Ellison’s use of midgets as sinister characters in a couple of his stories. The complainant adds: “we prefer to be called _little people._” Ellison, taken aback (yeah, like _that_ ever happens), replied: “I am five feet, four inches tall. _I_ am a little person. You, sir, are a midget.” ---
**Author:** ![MajorTom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@MajorTom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MajorTom)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-people-question/173907/23 "2003-06-03T23:57:20Z")
I once read somewhere that in some far off place, when a child was able to reach over the top of his head and touch the opposite ear, he was old enough to start school. Seems about right that at about 6 yrs old most kids can do that. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-people-question/173907/24 "2003-06-04T01:23:54Z")
I can’t possibly be the only person who thought of leprecauns when I read the title, can I? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-people-question/173907/25 "2003-06-04T03:31:53Z")
Vixenation writes: \> I guess when the average height of your female classmates \> from junior high to college is about 5’7-8, you tend to look much \> shorter. I suspect that the average height of your female classmates was not that tall. I’ve noticed that many people tend to overestimate the average height of the people they’re with. A lot of people, when asked the average height of the adult American man, will guess that it’s about 6’, which is actually almost three inches taller than the average. \> I know many of my friends that say it are teasing me, but the \> last 5-10 people I met commented on how short I was. If I were you, I would tell these people to mind their own business. When I hear some child say, “Hey, Mommy, look at the short man,” I ignore it as coming from someone who hasn’t learned yet that you don’t make personal comments about people in the street. When I hear an adult saying such a thing, I get away from them as fast as possible or I tell them to mind their own business. Any adult should know that you don’t bother people with such things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-people-question/173907.md?page=1)