Tall People Meet In Kanses City To Tell Tall Tales
20 September 2008 | Author: Hayley
There are a lot of people to look up to in Kansas City this weekend. They are members of Tall Clubs from across the country.
They are men who are taller than 6-foot-2 and women taller than 5-foot-10.
“When you’re different — tall, overweight, handicapped or something — you develop a thick skin.”
The tall people are here to socialize, to fundraise and to make people of all sizes aware of issues that affect very tall people.“There was one year when I grew 9 inches in junior high,” said Dave Rasmussen, who is nearly 7 feet 4 inches tall.
Rasmussen said he’s been aware of his tallness since kindergarten. He’s also taller than his parents.
“Mom was 6 foot; Dad is 6′4,” Rasmussen told KMBC’s Bev Chapman.
DNA testing revealed that Rasmussen has two Y chromosomes, something that is very rare.
He said everywhere he goes he’s reminded that he’s different.
“Clothing is getting easier with kids getting taller. I wear a size 15 shoe,” Rasmussen said.
“Does it have any effects on your body since you’re so tall?” one child asked Rasmussen.
Rasmussen said no, as long as he watched his head.
Chapman walked around the Country Club Plaza with Rasmussen and noticed that a lot of people were nice to the very tall man. However, Rasmussen said it hasn’t always been like that.
“When you’re different — tall, overweight, handicapped or something — you develop a thick skin,” Rasmussen said.
He said he didn’t let that affect the way he sees the world.
“People are normally curious,” Rasmussen said.
If you see someone tall and want to talk to him or her, Rasmussen had this advice: “If you want to ask about how tall, ask them something else first — something they’re not hearing all the time.”
This entry was posted on Saturday, September 20th, 2008 at 1:10 pm and is filed under News, Today's Top Story, Weeks Top 5. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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