The Front Row Syndrome

Imagine you are in a movie theater and you find a nice spot in the back, and you think you have found the perfect spot up in the back, then all of a sudden a large dark shadow passes in front of you and decides to settle down in the seat directly in front of yours. No problem you can just move over one, but wait the large dark figure has some friends that take up all of the row, and you don't want to move all the way up to the front row of the theater, so you stay where you are, and try to see as much of the film as possible between the cracks between large shadows. After the movie ends, the crowd starts to leave, and all of a sudden you are stuck between people that for some odd reason resemble the rocky mountains. You want to be in the back, but you disappear  so in order not to disappear, you basically have to be front row center all the time, and that is known as the front row syndrome.

If you're short, then you probably have a pretty good understanding of what the front row syndrome is, and if you are not you probably can guess what it means. The front row is usually the last place people want to be, but if you are short and actually want to be seen or to be able to see, it is mandatory that you are almost always on the front row.

That being said it doubles as a gift and a curse. You will never have to worry about your parents not seeing you in a photo or in your concert, because you will be basically front row center every time, but if you aren't one for the spotlight, the front row syndrome can have a negative impact on your life. You can try to hide in the back, but the taller people in the back don't let you stay if it is a concert, and if it is a picture, and you try to stand in the back, you might as well not be in the picture, because if you are visible at all, it won't be clear who it actually is.

However in a classroom where you can basically sit wherever you want, you are more than welcome to claim the back corner, but sitting in the back corner for a vertically impaired person has a cost. In elementary school and usually in Junior high or middle school it's not too big of a problem, because most people are around the same height, but as soon as you hit high school that changes.

It seems like basically everyone gets a growth spurt the summer before 10th grade, that is everyone but the vertically impaired. The vertically impaired stay their short selves, while their friends have somehow managed to grow like trees. The height difference doesn't change your friendship, but you do have to pay a price if you want to sit in the back with your friends.

Since your friends magically grew like trees over the summer they can see everything that the teacher writes on the board, but you are trying to see what she writes in the spaces between all of the other people who are taller than you that chose to sit closer to the front.

You can make the front row syndrome a positive thing though. Just like being on the front row in the choir concert,or in the family photo, everyone will know you were there, so you will never have to worry about the teacher not seeing you and marking you absent. You will also seem really smart because you are on the front row of every class, and you will have the opportunity to understand more of the material, because you can actually see the board and what the teacher is writing on it.

Example for why short people need the front row.

#ShortStories #ShortGirlProbs #StruggleIsReal

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