Tall People

I am tall. Not NBA tall, but tall compared to most people.

I am 6'7".

Until today, it has been more of a burden than a blessing. Let's face it: stuff is not really made with me in mind.

Most cars? No leg room. I don't know how many times I have gotten into a car and the driver says, "You can put the seat back." Let me let you in on a little secret about your car: the seat IS back. I'm just a big fella.

Airplanes? Forget it. It do a lot of wandering in the aisles on most commercial flights. On one trip to Hawaii a couple of years ago, the woman in front of me actually asked if I could move my legs to she could put her seat back. FOR some reason she couldn't get her head around the idea that legs aren't detachable. She spent most of the 6-hour flight brutally bashing her seat back into my legs. I let the plane cut and bruised! The only exception on planes is when I have had the good fortune (twice) to fly first class. It is a different world up there for tall people. Travel is actually enjoyable.

I'm too tall to work underground, too short (and lame) to play in the NBA, and too conspicuous to be a bank robber. The only thing height has been good for has been for the occasional, "Honey, can you get this down for me?"

But today, I have found my calling! Today, I know why I am tall. I can save dolphins:

BEIJING (AP) The long arms of the world's tallest man reached in and saved two dolphins by pulling out plastic from their stomachs, state media and an aquarium official said Thursday.

The dolphins got sick after nibbling on plastic from the edge of their pool at an aquarium in Liaoning province. Attempts to use surgical instruments to remove the plastic failed because the dolphins' stomachs contracted in response to the instruments, the China Daily newspaper reported.

Veterinarians then decided to ask for help from Bao Xishun, a 7-foot-9 herdsman from Inner Mongolia with 41.7-inch arms, state media said.

Bao, 54, was confirmed last year by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's tallest living man.

Chen Lujun, the manager of the Royal Jidi Ocean World aquarium, told The Associated Press that the shape of the dolphins' stomachs made it difficult to push an instrument very far in without hurting the animals. People with shorter arms could not reach the plastic, he said.

"When we failed to get the objects out we sought the help of Bao Xishun from Inner Mongolia and he did it successfully yesterday," Chen said. "The two dolphins are in very good condition now."

Read the whole story HERE. check out Xishun's Guiness page HERE.

Don't worry dolphins... Big Pat is on the way!