And by the way I didn't used to play basketball

I am 6'5" (196 cm).

I was always the tallest kid in the class from kindergarten until Junior High. This meant I always got to sit at the back of the class, a habit I still have.

Nonetheless, I was and still am, incredibly uncoordinated and no matter what your size, games like basketball do require some degree of skill. Further most of my growth spurt occurred between Grade 10 and 11 by which time it was really too late to learn how to play basketball. I do remember my Grade 11 PE teacher /basketball coach looking interestedly at me at the beginning of the term. His interest lasted about 5 minutes.

Ice hockey and football, sports where my size would have been an advantage, I never really played.

Essentially all my size gets me is a lot of trouble finding clothes to fit (thank god for the LL Bean catalogue and I hope the Canadian $ stays near par) and a lot of knocks on the head.

What really gets me is how people have nothing better to say to me when we meet but, "Boy are you tall, did you play basketball?" This is not just outside the hospital but frequently in work situations. Now I am physician, a medical specialist, department head, and I have a lot of outside interests. So why is it that people feel necessary to start any discussion by discussing my height.

Other people have distinguishing physical features too. Imagine me starting a conversation, "Wow are those ever big, what are you a 38D?" This would no doubt earn me a trip to the medical director's office and a few weekends spent at sensitivity camp.