Actually, you missed the part where this guy's brother asked Van Damme if he forgot his shoe lifts that day.

Reread it, then get back to me. Trust me, the brother was the aggressor, not Van Damme. Then again, if you read WFO Racer's posts, you'll realize this is the kind of person he is as well - brash, loud, relatively rude, and not really that personable.

 

San Antonio probably has a much larger hispanic population than where you came from. In general they are 2-4 inches shorter than the average white male, which you seem to be. My father is 6'4 and I'm 5'10 and am glad I'm not any taller. There are several disadvantages to being tall I'm aware of since my father is. 5'10 is about perfect for the things in which height matters to me[not many], motorycles, cars, etc.

All my girlfriends are between 5'0 and 5'2 so any taller and things would start getting awkward.

 

Why the heck are you so much shorter than your father? It's usually the other way around - USUALLY.

I have this Vietnamese friend who has a 6'3" son and weighs 240+ pounds. The father (my friend) is only 5'5" and his wife is 5'7", but the kid is 6'3". The younger kid is only 17 and he's already 6' and still growing. Imagine that, the father is 5'5" (midget), the kid is 6'3". The kid puts his father on his shoulders like a scarf.

The younger Asian American generation is getting taller than the older gen, because of the foods and lifestyles.

Imagine this little trivia. The Dutch are now the world's tallest people, with an average height of 6'2" for men. However, during WWII, they were much shorter. 1 in 4 failed to join in their military because they were shorter than the minimum requirement of 5'2". Imagine that, 25% of enlistable men couldn't join because they were shorter than 5'2", yet 60 years later, they became the world's tallest men, on average.

 

..genetics? It's a little more complicated than simply how tall your father is.

My mother is short and her father was 5'7, etc. My brother is about 6' even.

You notice people being significantly taller than their parents because it's noticeable, not because it's necessarily normal. There has been a worldwide trend towards taller people over the last couple thousand years. Immigrants to the U.S., similar to what you mentioned perviously, tend to be taller than their parents over time due to access to more nutritious foods especially protein rich ones.

 

I say genetics are only about 2/3 of the equation and the other 1/3 is nutritious foods. For example, some Africans in poor Africa are tall as hell while being skin-and-bone because food are scarce.

 

[QUOTE=rnye,Oct 30 2007, 07:56 AM]Figured I'd contribute another random topic to the OT section of S2ki..

Short people, particularly short men... I'm 6', 170lbs.

 

6'3" FTMFW! Pretty convenient to never have something out of reach

Wouldn't want much taller though, for fear of not being comfortable in the stook.

 

DAMN!! I guess I'm the shortest one here? I'm 5'3 and obviously being short has it times, but regardless I always feel it as a blessing, since I make it up in other places...

 

I'm 5'8" and my wife is 6'2". Never bothered me a bit. It bothers me more that she doesn't fit in some of the cars I like.

My wife hates guys with the short man complex. She's had jobs where her boss would not talk to her if she was standing. In fact one of these guys is now the head of HR for a large international company. Go figure.

 

With that complex, it's interesting that he was able to get above the rest. You know, I just wouldn't expect him to be that far above par. Perhaps the competition came up short? It's offensive what is in reach of some ass holes today. Maybe he'll show some growth of character... I just hope he's not giving the people (figuratively) under him the short end of the stick.