Shopping can be a bit of a stretch

AS a youngster I was passed over the heads of the adult spectators at a football match so I could watch the action from the front of the crowd. As an adult, before all-seater stadiums, there was less point going because at my height there was always the chance I would get stuck behind tall blokes and would only be able to see high clearances.

“By heck, that’ll come down with ice on it.” There was also the possibility of suffering the indignity of being passed over their heads to the front after being mistaken for a 12-year-old.

I have never considered my height to be a problem and never made a song and dance about the occasional drawbacks, such as having difficulty getting served in a crowded bar. Not that anyone would have noticed if I had, especially in a crowded bar.

And yet there are times I get cross over mundane tasks. Like reaching a top shelf, particularly in a supermarket.

One I visit has its bottles of full strength tonic water on the top shelf. Lower shelves contain calorie free, lime tonic and lemon tonic. But full strength bottles are top shelf, like adult magazines.

The top shelf is a stretch but, after the first row has been taken, it is a stretch too far and I cannot reach the remaining bottles. A very pleasant and tall young woman once lifted a couple of bottles down for me but I didn’t like asking for more, in case she thought I had a serious gin addiction.

I could, of course, take a folding kitchen stool when shopping, ask another tall lady to hand them down, or get two big blokes to lift me up, rugby union style. Or I could just go to a different store where I can reach the tonic.