It's rather astonishing how freely random strangers on the street engage with other people's height. My quite tall editor Ann Friedman lays down some remembrances here, and they're a bit horrifying. Similarly amazing is the fact that my very, very tall roommate gets asked a) how tall he is and b) whether he plays basketball with what seems to me to be daily, or more than daily, frequency. I'm not sure what it is about tallness that seems so inviting to public comment. My working theory is that it's a noticeable attribute which people don't think of as bad, so it's not insulting to point out ("how obese are you?"), and don't think of as intimidating ("how beautiful are you?"), and so are willing to mention. But it's really weird. Meanwhile, my DC trivia team has no fewer than two (2) women who are 6'2, and my house has a guy who's 6'7, and I'm thinking of forming a gang.
