Do you play basketball? Many strangers have uttered that phrase over the years and I don’t know why. Well okay maybe it has to do with the fact that I am a six-foot female, but that shouldn’t give people free access to comment on my body however they want, does it?

We all know that everyone has the freedom of speech, but whether people realize it or not, issuing statements about a stranger’s physical traits is just downright insensitive. No one in their right mind would go up to a random overweight person and say, “lose some weight.” But believe it or not, that politically incorrect attitude is practiced all the time, with a few exceptions.

Race is a palpable no-no to comment on and so is weight apparently. We all have been ingrained with the dos and don’ts of social etiquette, but evidently people missed the chapter on the vertically challenged.

It is considered a great feature if a man is tall, but for a woman it’s different. Speaking from personal experience, it seems that there is a height requirement for females in order to be considered feminine. Any tall woman can give you a laundry list of complaints about trying to find shoes and cute clothes that will fit, let alone compliment their long limbs. And dating?

Forget it. Most men still prefer the “little woman” instead of an amazon.

Now I’m not going into a sermon of the trails and tribulations of being a tall woman, I would just like to know what motivates people to say things like, “My God, you’re so tall,” to people that they don’t know. I mean is that obvious statement supposed to be a compliment, because if it is, when it is said with wide eyes and a jaw dropping, it’s usually not taken that way.

Really, this kind of behavior was expected in elementary and high school, but not in college.

So for all you normal people out there, the next time you get the urge to say something not so clever like, “How’s the weather up there?” to an unsuspecting tall creature, do us all human statues out there a favor and bite your tongue.