So this is it. The final Small Stories.
There are two groups of people I would like to thank for helping me through this work. The first are my university housemates. It was more than a decade ago, but I still remember how, plunged into a much bigger social pool that at any time in my life to that date, I suddenly became all too aware how much of an outlier my height was. Friends from my younger life had become quite accustomed to the fact I had bypassed a growth spurt in puberty. This fact was alien to all the fresh, and frequently intoxicated, faces I met for the first time at university. To my housemates for continually letting me bore them with stories and debates about my troubles and doubts, I will be eternally grateful for their patience and understanding.
A shout out to the rest of my friendship group as well, or at least the ones who I have told about this newsletter, for not laughing me out of the door at the concept of it, and for forwarding me links when they came across potentially relevant clippings during the process.
The second is my wife, for showing similarly impressive levels of patience in letter me bend her ear as, at several times during the writing process, I required reassurance as to whether or not I was just making a song and dance about nothing, or whether I could fit such a disparate world of research into a coherent volume.
There is so much material on the subject of height that it became difficult to keep a narrative thread together without breaking it. It's the kind of thing that needs professional help, even for a seasoned writer, so if anyone wants to build on this work, just let me know.
My hat also goes off to the legions of researchers who have taken these issues as seriously as I have in the past. Without their insight, my own thoughts would carry only a fraction of their weight. To any readers who did not instantly baulk at my view that short people do in fact face challenges, and continued reading my words with an open mind, I salute you too.
That leads me to the final appreciation that is due. It is to say a big thankyou to you for taking the time to learn about a subject dear to my heart. I only hope I haven’t scuppered your faith in humanity. Instead, I trust there’s at least something every reader can take away that is of interest, or even of practical use to assess how they talk about and treat others.