One of the scary aspects of ageing, I have discovered, is that we shrink as we get older! Really! I got a shock a few weeks back when I went for a check up. Now, I’ve been five foot eleven inches for as long as I can remember, and reasonably happy with that, although there have been times in cinemas when someone with big hair has sat in front of me, when I would have found a few more inches rather useful… so imagine my dismay when the doctor measured my height and told me I am now a mere five foot, nine and a half! I did a quick calculation and worked out that if I live to be one thousand years old (which is my plan as there are so many books I want to read – and to write!!!) I will only be just over three foot tall when I celebrate that particular birthday.
Helen and I feel somewhat small
It is also a fact that we are taller first thing in the morning, when we get out of bed, and slowly shrink during the day as our spines compact. In the days when there was a minimum height restriction for English policemen, of five foot, ten inches, those applicants on the borderline would try to get their medical done first thing in the morning, to secure that crucial extra half inch. So, I’m wondering, what time of morning did this very charming doorman at the Intercontinental Hotel in Dubai get out of bed? Or have I suddenly got even older than I thought?