I was born in the beautiful Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, in the mid 1960's, but was raised in New York City, in the 1970's.
Somehow I have managed to convinced my mind that both places are of equal importance in my heart. And they are. I am a loud and proud Newyorkrican. As I was growing up, it was the Hispanic barrios in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx and even Long Branch, NJ, that I called home. Funny thing is, I never noticed a height difference in the people surrounding me; we were all basically of similar physique.
Imagine my horror, when my family relocated to Florida and I first realized that I was a shorty!
Hell, here, among the short, I am considered short!
Living in New York was tough. A vivid memory, which will always stay with me is that, every new kid in school had to prove he was not a punk. Girls were not immune to this "unwritten" requirement. Let's just say, my family moved around often and I was the new kid in school a lot. Lucky or unlucky for me, depending on whether you look at life as a glass half empty or half full, I had seven brothers at home and got plenty of practice in the art of boxing(at least that's what they called it). I did fairly well surviving these school yard fights. I could remember losing only one fight, and this girl was tall and lanky.
I should have taken my first hint there, don't you think?
Attending High School in Florida was not that much different than in New York. I guess kids are mean everywhere and indiscriminately so. The bullies tended to underestimate me because of my height and paid the consequences. One day, I learned about Napoleon Bonaparte. An insignificant non-commissioned French soldier who rose through the ranks to conquer most of Europe and become Emperor. Many people surmised he compensated for his lack of height by seeking power, war and conquest. Thus, the term Napoleon complex was coined, geared towards vertically challenged individuals who exhibit overly aggressive and cunning characteristics.
In my mind, this guy, Napoleon, was the embodiment of what I perceived as being wrong with the world. At least, my world. Short people tend to get picked on. Short people have no choice but to become aggressive to survive. To out smart the evil that naturally comes with the accumulation of height. Heck, its the reason Chihuahuas have developed their instinctively aggressive defense mechanism, they too, are shorties. Everything makes sense. Everything is right in the world.
There is only one problem, actually several. In researching this topic; mind you, I am a conscientious writer, I don't want to mislead anyone nor God forbid, miseducate the masses; I came across information which disputes the validity of this line of thought. It seems that the well accepted Napoleon complex is nothing more than the combination of confirmation bias alongside bigotry, used to describe an alleged type of inferiority complex which is said to affect some people, especially men, who are short in stature. The term is also used more generally to describe people who are driven by a perceived handicap or overcompensate in other aspects of their lives. Wikipedia
To add insult to injury, Napoleon, was not short. He was 5'6, well within the normal height for men in that era and in that part of the world.
The world I thought I knew is shattered. I can no longer act out, finding comfort in the blanket that the Napoleon complex afforded me once and must cease to accuse the giants around me as instigator conspirators to the blight of my temper.
I must accept, that if I want height, I must bare the pain of extremely high heeled shoes. I must accept, that if something falls on the floor, the shortest person is always expected to bend over and pick it up, it's only logical, we are closest to the ground! I must accept that if I want to reach something in the kitchen cabinet, a step latter is my best friend.
This was suppose to be a battle cry to all shorties around the world to stand up and fight for their rights!!! Damn you Napoleon!!! :)
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