November 7, 2006
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Out of Reach (a day in the life of a short person)
I feel extremely embarrassed.
I was just at the market buying some last-minute items for dinner and had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for some really good ready-made Signature soup. Now, just so you know, what we're talking about here isn't just the ordinary processed soup-in-a-can, it's fresh restaurant quality soup, with quite a wide selection of unique soups. Anyway, I couldn't pass up the coupon since it's usually so expensive that I have actually never had any before except for the one time when Cindy bought it when we were living together as singles. After scanning the selection, I tentataively chose two soups that I thought would be good... but then wondered if I should take another look, "Maybe there's a soup with mushrooms in it. Sam would love mushrooms." After reading just about all the labels, I saw that on the very, very top shelf, there was one with the label, "Bistro Mushroom Trio soup." Ah, just what I was looking for! So I tippy-toed up as far as I could to try to grab for it. But... you guessed it, it was too high up for me. I tried to do the waving hand thing which usually helps me nudge an object that is out of reach to inch closer, but it was so far into the shelf that I was only swatting air.
It was totally out of reach.
So then I started looking around to see if there was someone I could ask for help. But all the market clerks were busy helping other customers. So I started looking at customers. I must've spied five or six tall people, staring at each of them for an embarrassing length of time, on the verge of speaking the words, just to look away at that last moment to pretend that I wasn't looking at them at all. I can't explain it, but I just felt thoroughly embarrassed that I needed to ask for help for the silly reason that I was too short.
I paced around the soup stand with the following thoughts running through my mind: I can't leave without the soup. That would be way more embarrassing -- to be defeated by my height problem -- than admitting that I had a height problem. Where's a tall person when you need them? I wish they had those step stools like at the library. Maybe I should just give up and go home. And then finally, I reproofed myself, What's the matter with you anyway, Mary Ann? Why are you so embarrassed to ask someone for help? Your height is not anything you can help. And besides, it doesn't mean that you are incompetent.
With that last thought, I turned around and saw an older gentleman coming toward me with his wife. I stepped out in front of him and said, "Sorry, can I bother you to get something I cannot reach?" He warmly exclaimed, "Why sure!" He was more than amiable. And yet as I walked away with the Mushroom soup, the feeling of exceeding embarrassment still lingered all about me.
Comments (3)
=) That's a good reason to bring Sam around. But you shouldn't feel embarrassed. I get requests now and then at the stores and never give it a second thought. And it'll probably make the helper feel good.
haha, don't worry Mary Ann, it happens to me all the time! One time I wanted to get something half up on the shelf at Ranch 99, one of the immigrant workers helped me out and he in turn asked me to teach him how to say some simple English.
i can totally sympathize
sometimes, people will even come up to me and ask me if they can help me get something, haha.
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