Big People, Little World
We’ve moved into a new apartment! Pictures will come shortly (it’s an absolute disaster zone at the moment in the midst of us unpacking), but we love it. It’s a two bedroom, one bath 70′s-era place much closer to downtown, so we can finally take advantage of all the fun stuff in San Diego. And the best part is that it’s near my work–no more hour-long commute for me!
There is one downfall, and we’ve actually dealt with it at every single apartment we’ve had: everything is designed for tiny people. We’re not tiny people. We’re certainly not elephants or anything, but at 5’10″ and 6’4″ respectively, Nate and I are a collective force to be reckoned with.
This showerhead clearly doesn't know who it's messing with
We’ve always had to install these fancy showerheads with extra-tall pipe extensions so Nate can wash anything above his nippular region (and yes, he just LOVES the names I make up for his body parts).
That's more like it
Furniture is a nightmare to manage. During college, we went through four futons. Four. We were too broke to afford anything better, but those little slats didn’t stand a chance against Nate’s 300 pound frame. A couple family members donated some couches to us, but those didn’t last long either. We eventually resorted to using a giant pillow on the ground in front of the TV. We’re currently on the hunt for something a little more classy (preferably something with a base of solid wood).
Mattresses have always been a headache. Those fancy posturepedic cushy things are not good mattresses for heavy people. Heavy people need a solid mattress foundation–none of this foamy stuff that inevitably squishes into a pancake. We searched high and low, and eventually ended up buying a Classic Simmons Beautyrest Alder Tight Top Firm mattress. That thing is STRONG. It’s made using one of the strongest coil gauges on the market and boasts some sort of titanium support (my eyes glaze over when salespeople start throwing out names of metal). It’s ridiculously firm, but we can always buy a separate, replaceable mattress topper if we need a little more comfort.
When people see that “Little People, Big World” show, they clearly see the difficulties that little people face. A lot of people, however, don’t realize the difficulties that big people face. I repeatedly hit my head on the shower door overhang, and I’m not even THAT tall. We have to consider size in everything, from office chairs to utensils. Bigger people naturally eat more, so pots, pans, and even our KitchenAid stand mixers are larger than most families’. Then there’s the issue of where to put all this gigantic stuff.
I’m extremely glad we live in San Diego, where we can afford a nice place with plenty of room to live comfortably. Back in LA, we paid $1,800 a month for a tiny one-bedroom that was actually underground! I kid you not. We had a lovely view of feet slapping on concrete outside our bedroom window. And I quickly learned to understand why women pay fifty bucks a pop to have someone paint their toenails.
