I Am Tall and You Are Not A Lady.

I am really tall.
I arrived at a sim today and was camera-ing around when I received a quick note.
"Crap you are so tall."
What do I say?

A million ideas went through my head, but in the end the sensible me, the me my grandmother liked best, typed in a colon and a curved bracket making a little smile. I waited to see where she was going with the whole thing.
That was it.
She was done. Having blessed me with her astute observation of life, of me, she was off to spend her Lindens, weaving in and out of the shopping crowd. I wondered if she was greeting her other fellow shoppers with more one liners. "Crap, you are so blonde," "Crap you are so male," or even "Crap, you have a purse." I mean I couldn't argue with her, my avatar is tall.
But this was a fashion event and as I read her profile I could see that she had been in Second Life for almost 7 years and surely she has come across the blogging/models/fashion crowd of Amazonish women. AND, even if somehow she had escaped that because the rock she lived under was particularly dark, how about, "Hello " and then, "crap you are so tall?" How about a bit more follow up conversation so it wasn't so assaultive?
Even more amusing was her profile. I learned that she was into role play. I considered that role play would expose you to even more diversity of characters, which is what Second Life is all about, is it not? I mean we all get to interpret our world in any guise we choose ... be it human or animal or mechanical or other. We can be big or small, fat or thin, ugly or beautiful ... it is all our call. I find that incredibly fascinating, that even the human form can be interpreted in so many diverse and interesting ways. I would never think to tell someone else what they should or shouldn't be. I might not like some interpretations as much as others but it seems to me that the entire premise of Second Life has to be bound by one single right that each of us should be willing to fight to the death to preserve. That is, the right to interpret our world in whatever way we want.
My grandmother's "me" might think something odd or not as attractive but she would never say that to the person. I would never want something I say to ever take away from someone's creative efforts. If I could not find something nice to say, I would not say a thing. Real life is full of pain and angst over how we look to others, why create a virtual world with that same pain, especially when we have a choice?
My new observant friend had rules for people. She had instructions for how they dressed when they interacted with her and insisted they use an AO. The rest of the profile was dedicated to how she expected you to treat her. She mutes rude people. If you speak to her in IM polite or rude, be assured you will get back in kind exactly what you give. She reminds people to think of how they would like people to speak to their sisters or mothers, friends or wives ... obviously suggesting that is the way you should speak to her.
And there in lies the point of all of this.
Isn't it interesting how many people have two sets of rules for life? There is the way they expect other people to treat them, which is often complicated with a whole set of strict rules, and then the way they treat others, which is basically any way they want including ignoring all the rules they have for other people to treat them. They are never held to the same standard that others are. And they don't see the contradiction in that. They really don't.

I didn't add her as a friend ... but then she never asked.
I think I blew my chance when I channelled my grandmother . . . she didn't mention grandmothers on her profile. Let's face it .. . I am too tall AND too old for her.

SKIN: Glam Affair - Brandi Sweet - ( Asia and America )
HAIR: AandAFina Hair 1 EYES: IKON Kaleido Eyes - Oil LASHES: Angel Rock Eyelash ADVANCED LASHES STANDARD with hud PANTS: (hh) Annika Leather Pants Red
COAT: -David Heather-Funnel Coat/F/Burgandy
BOOTS: * Morphine: Ghail's Knee Length Boots (Black/Rigged)
POSES: Di's Opera
LOCATION: floorplan