Webster's definition of adapt is to bring one thing into correspondence with another; modification or yielding to changing circumstances; bringing into harmony.
There is no other way to sugar coat it. Life as a Little Person can really suck at times. For some Little People far worse than others, as I have shared here what many others go through physically as compared to me. The common denominators of what we Little People do share with each other are we live with pain, are short, encounter meanness, ridicule, and our images rudely taken on cellphones each time we leave our homes. Here in the U.S., these photos are then uploaded to disgusting websites for the sole purpose of ridicule meanness on a large scale. Obviously without our permission. We're just an object. Our humanity doesn't count. And this sucks.
Where I live, the mailboxes are a long distance from my home. There is a older couple who live near the mailboxes, who haven't lived here long. No one likes them. They apparently have nothing better to do than rush to their window or porch, when they hear someone getting their mail. With me, they rush out to their porch and just stand there STARING and snickering. Then after I turn the corner, they FOLLOW so they can keep STARING and snickering.
One thing I refuse to do on my journey of encountering this crap, is not to lower myself to THEIR level. I learned MANY years ago if I give rude people the finger or deliver an F-Bomb, their ridicule gets worse. Or believe it or not, THEY get angry I would dare respond in such a way to THEIR rudeness! Anyway, lowering myself to their level feels belittling to me. I prefer to keep walking TALL and remaining silent. It's hard, but there really is no other way to deal with such people. And besides, these days it is dangerous due to the "justified" rage many have.
Yet I shouldn't have to deal with such stuff where I live. Finally one day, I very heroically managed to remain calm, but politely reamed the rude couple out. No swear words. Told them what I go through when I leave home and I shouldn't HAVE to deal with such rudeness where I live when I try to get my mail. What I got was silence. But they don't rush out to their porch anymore. They do peek through their blinds, which is a improvement of sorts. It still sucks though.
Prior to my becoming more and more homebound due to the severe deterioration of my health in the past few years, each time I went to the grocery store and other places, my height challenge necessitated my needing to constantly ask other customers in getting down what I needed. It was/is amazing how much this becomes a blessing to those I ask for their help.
So often people are deep in their own thoughts and worries, then suddenly there is someone cheerfully asking for their help, who obviously has worse problems than they do. Their faces suddenly light up. Many times I have been told how nice it was for them to be needed. And when I have had to ask someone for help who was not that much taller than me, THEY really delighted in the fact they ran into someone shorter than themselves who THEY could help! You wouldn't believe all the wonderful, positive, inspiring interactions with people I have had while shopping!
However, over the years though, I have learned there are many Little People who absolutely refuse to ask for help when they can't reach what they need. Even with people standing right there offering to help, these individuals climb on the shelves and merchandise, knocking stuff over, to get what they need.
I don't agree with this method, yet I cannot fully fault those who do it, because I understand their reasons. The "I can do this myself" pride is one. Proving to the "tall-lies" one is not helpless is another. I have had average height people ask me what they should do when they encounter a shelf climbing Little Person in action. If they refuse to ask for help, let them be and go your way. It's sad though, because there are not many Little People out there to begin with. Which is why I try to inspire and educate every chance I get, even in a grocery store, because we don't get many of these chances anyway. So if average height people have a one time encounter with a rude or negative Little Person, their impression is we ALL must be like that too, when we're obviously not. This is why I take my Public Relations work for us seriously.😃
Anyway, tall-lies often forget WE are living in a world not made for us, that we constantly must struggle to adapt ourselves into. Many must use hand controls to drive, or pedal extensions. Thankfully after cars began having adjustable seats and steering wheels, I am "tall" enough to reach the pedals without extensions. We adapt.
And our homes have LOTS of stools. I just counted nine. In a one bedroom apartment. Stools are quite necessary.🤣 Not only that, but all my kitchen cupboards up above...are...EMPTY. So are the upper shelves in my closets. We adapt. We have to adapt.
Dwarfism sucks with the physical challenges we endure. Like many, my long arm and leg bones did not grow normally. However, I/we are carrying the same muscle mass squeezed and jammed around our long bones as an average size person. Think of this. I am 4'3" but have the same muscle mass as a 5' 7-9" woman. Having this amount of muscle jammed around my short long bones causes pain both neurological and arthritically. Not even counting the severe spine pain I live with. Many other Little People are dealing with even far worse problems than me.
These days my spinal cord inflammation disease has all but shut my bladder and colon down. The pain and nausea are worsening from the complications and infections. This aspect is why at times dwarfism sucks.
I still keep adapting though and keep fighting. As long as I have breath, I will keep walking TALL and pouring all the harmony, courage, and humor into my world as I always have. So I may go out sliding on my a$$ dear ones, but I will go out with my head held high galloping out in spirit on a winged horse. And soon galloping across the fields of Heaven finally free from the broken body that could never break my spirit.🐎😃🐎
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