Every day, we sit in our beds, we sit in our classes, we sit at our desks, and we sit at our tables. Sitting serves as a type of intermission between our incessant running back and forth between our classes, club meetings, and other daily activities. It provides our body with an overwhelming sense of relaxation, where literally all you have to do, is sit. But what happens when this daily occurrence becomes more of a daily hassle? I would know.  

As we’ve talked about before, my legs are very long, like comparable to a giraffe’s neck long. For this reason, sitting sometimes seems more like a task than like a relaxer. Whether I’m sitting at my desk, sitting at a table, sitting in the Forum, or sitting in a car, my legs simply don’t allow for the level of comfort that many of my peers’ experience.  

You all know the typical Penn State dorm desks, the big, ugly, wooden ones that you slide your chair under. Well for me, the only time I slide my chair under is when I’m not in it. This is simply because if I try to slide under my desk while sitting in the chair my feet hit the wall way before I’m under and my knees hit the top of the desk. 

Like this: 

(Image via Madison Burnard)

However, sitting at a desk isn’t my only downfall, sitting at a table is too. Anyone who has ever sat across from me at a table knows exactly what I mean: ankle abuse. It’s not intentional, and anyone that knows me knows that I’m probably the least violent person on the face of the planet, but it happens. My legs are so long that it’s pretty much guaranteed that I will accidentally kick whoever is across from me more than once. I feel especially bad for my mom, who endures ankle abuse from both my dad and I. Whenever we’re at a restaurant, it’s inevitable that she gets kicked. My dad is 6’8 and I am 6’1, so we obviously can’t sit across from each other, thus one of us is always across from her. I’m sure once my younger brother, who is 11 and 5’3, grows, we will probably cancel family dinner outings altogether, for my mom’s ankles’ sake.  

Even better than ankle abuse, is spinal abuse. For me, this usually occurs in the Forum, in cars, and even on the bus rides home.  Simply put, my legs are so long that they literally impale the spines of whoever is unfortunate enough to have to sit in front of me. In the Forum, the rows are so close together that my knees literally push into the back of the chair in front of me. This usually leaves the person in front of me sitting STRAIGHT up or leaning forward and shooting me dirty looks throughout class. Sorry dude. Additionally, in cars and buses, my knees are pretty much always pressing into the seat in front of me, even if I’m sitting behind my mom who’s 5’4. Long car/bus rides are AWFUL. I recently took a Greyhound bus home, and I literally couldn’t even move because I was jammed between the window, another person, and the seat in front of me. To make matters worse, the knee cramps associated with this unfortunate occurrence was KILLER and I couldn’t extend my legs for THREE HOURS.  

(Image via Penn State T&F Alumni)

Long story short, sitting is just another thing you shouldn’t take for granted if you’re not 6 feet tall. Quite frankly, I feel bad for anyone taller than me, because believe me, the struggle is real.  

Thanks for reading and tune in next week for more of the fantastic perks of being a giant!

Madison