Feeling tall
Ever since I was a kid I was always considered short. I wasn’t put in the last row for school photos because I was short and no one would see me. I wasn’t chosen for pick-up basketball games because I was short. I had to stand on my toes to get on some amusement park rides because I was short. Once I was out of my teens I never really paid much attention to my height but I was aware that I was shorter than many of people I knew, in the back of a crowd I could not see very far.
Here in Italy I feel tall. I have seen a few Italians that are tall but for the most part when in stores and out in the piazza’s I notice that my height fits right in with the people around me. I even know many Italians who I am actually taller than. In a crowd my chances of seeing over everybody is just a good as the person next to me.
When discussing this with a friend he pointed out that for many Italians who are fifty years or older they may have spent a good portion of their lives not knowing the abundance that Italy has now. The war years were a very difficult time for Italians and nutritional issues were a part of that. This is noticeable in the younger generations who do seem to have more height.
2 comments:
I have always thought a lot of Americans of our generation were not taught much about what occurred after WWII. Talk to Italian and they will tell you that people starved to death. They will also tell you that they got packages of flour and other staples that said "From the people of the United States." They will also tell you they have never forgotten that. We earned huge amounts of goodwill with small amounts of humanitarian aid.
We heard those stories several times when we lived briefly in Anzio south of Rome. I'm not sure Americans understand the hardships other people have or do deal with.
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