When you're the shortest friend
Being short has its ups and downs, but mostly downs, for obvious reasons. Your height sometimes becomes your defining factor, more so in front of your friends. If you're short, you instantly become the easiest target, and there's no escape.
Short jokes become a daily ordeal. At one point, you give up trying to formulate comebacks and just accept your fate. Heck, you even join in, since self-deprecation is always in fashion. The worst part is that if your friends ever feel like roasting someone out of the blue, you are the first casualty. Your height will always be in their mind, and they will never hesitate about cracking a joke about it.
The jokes aren't only limited to the group chat, of course. Every short person meme on the internet, you have already been tagged in. They might even make fun of your height in front your crush, knowing very well they're ruining the already minimal chance you have with her. When that happens, you can always start a meme page so that girls look beyond your height and fall for more important things.
Sometimes, you might feel like you've drawn the short straw. Especially when a tall friend is taking the group selfie and everyone huddles in front, not caring about how only a centimetre of your miniature self made it into the photo. You can try to cut to the front, but then your less than average height will be even more apparent. Taking selfies with tall friends becomes an extreme sport, since getting just the right angle so that both of you are part of the picture is next to impossible.
Height is sometimes correlated with age because who cares about biology? If you're small, you're a baby. If you're a baby, your opinions matter less. You can be picked on easily. You can be the perfect arm rest for your friends. Your strength will always be underestimated. Good news is, nobody will ever pick a fight with you; defeating your opponent with one weak punch can't be considered a fight. However, make sure to have some big, mean-looking friends with you at all times, just in case.
If you do look younger than your age because of your height, then you will look completely out of place next to your friends. You'd feel like an eighth-grader hanging with university students. People will mistake you as the younger brother or sister of one of your friends. Say goodbye to any plans you had of confessing your secret feelings to your friend because you are most likely going to be little brother-zoned by them too.
Even though you might think all these problems are huge, they're not. It's just your height making things seem bigger than they are. At the end of the day, being the shortest in your group of friends makes you stand out. You're the one getting the most attention, regardless of whether it's good or bad. This goes out to all the tall people out there, cut your short friends some slack. They have to put extra energy and effort into everything they do anyway, so your jokes will only make their already difficult lives harder.
Mayabee Arannya is a confused soul still searching for a purpose. Give her advice on life at facebook.com/mayabee.arannya