Years ago I used to work as an administrative temp. I was given a very short placement in a very normal everyday type of office. There were a few other women working there, but for the most part it was men. This may have had an impact on the anecdote I'm about to tell you about, but I can't be sure.
There was a man there who held the second most senior position in the organisation. He was equally successful in his personal life, was married and had a couple of daughters. He was well liked, the sort of boss people dream off with a great sense of humour.
I couldn't tell you his height in inches but I would say it was average.
One day it was decided that the computer monitors had to be repositioned as some of the taller staff were experiencing eye strain due to the monitors being incorrectly positioned. In most cases the monitors were simply adjusted but some of the taller guys needed additional platforms to get them to the correct height.
This guy, despite very clearly having no need to have his monitor adjusted, insisted on having his raised and a platform added.
It was just weird and it struck me at the time that he didn't want to face up to being the height that he was.
I realise now of course that he understood something I didn't at the time. He knew that all of his success and talent didn't really count for much, because he knew that it would be seen by many through a heightist lense. He wasn't a shorter person in the general population, but he was the shorter man in that office. He feared that was enough for him to be seen as not good enough.
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