It's a tall world

This is not something new in my life, the world is most definitely not made to cater for those of us that are somewhat 'challenged' in the height department.

At 'optimistically' five foot I have long suffered clothes with sleeves half way to my knees, trousers with enough spare at the bottom of the leg to make a second pair and dresses that have the bust at my waist, the waist at my hips and reveal not just an attractive decolletage (should I have one) but the whole damn lot to a point somewhere midway between my shoulders and my navel!

I have had a lifetime of having to ask for assistance when trying to reach a product on a supermarket shelf, of being referred to as 'sweet' or 'cute' (neither of which accurately describes my nature!) because I am small, people have even been known to pat me on the head in a condescending manner and of course it has been the source of many jokes.

I am used to it, it has it's funny side and there are worse things that could have afflicted me but now something new.

I mentioned recently that the store in which I work is currently undergoing a re-fit, or rather a substantial re-build, well said work is progressing nicely, with one or two exceptions that I will go into on another occasion. This week saw the completion of the new desk that myself and those of us unlucky lucky enough to spend our days dealing with customer complaints inhabit for the eight hour stint.

And so we 'moved in' last Tuesday, tills, computers, and all the masses of sundry items required for us to do our job and serve the public in the manner to which they have become accustomed,where moved to our new 'abode' overnight. The morning bought chaos. I was alone running this area for the morning, I could find nothing, everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and scattered randomly around, my tannoy and 'customer requires help' buzzers where defunct, only one pc and one till worked and the power sockets where non existent.

All of this was somewhat challenging but do-able, I muddled through, gradually cleaned and organised between customers, if not to perfection at least to a point where I could operate reasonably......... but woe is me, the height issue/small person problem raised it's head once more and in a far more difficult manner than the norm.

The whole damn desk has been built for someone of at least 5' 10'', I can't see my customers and they can't see me over the pc and till screens! Oh joy. Add to that the tills have been set so high that I cannot manoeuvre myself any which way to be able to view the screen through the appropriate bit of my varifocal lenses, resulting in a week of sore eyes and headaches.

Yes, I know there is a duty of care, that my employer should alleviate this problem. I offered to use a small box or stool or some such 'high tech' piece of equipment to stand on but apparently health and safety doesn't allow that.

Please forgive my scepticism but I have a feeling this will turn into a bone of contention. My initial mention of the problem seemed to be treated as moaning or grumbling and I got the distinct feeling among the laughter, that it was taken less than seriously. Things are hectic right now, management are stressed and there are myriad deadlines to meet and things to get done, so for now I will wait and see.....but who will give me good odds on anyone coming back to me on this one without my having to make an issue of it?!

Lol, just give me a box someone!