A newspaper reader doesn’t usually expect anything big to read on a Monday. Sunday is normally a lazy day for journalists, except for some occasional landslides that for some unknown reason mostly happen on weekends, in which case the next day’s front page photos will have politicians looking mad at nature for making the lives of their constituents difficult.

“We will rebuild, we will survive. Let’s show to the world the resiliency of Cebuanos,” they would be quoted in the captions as saying, as they stand tall among ruins and debris.

But this paper’s issue last Monday (March 16) was different. Its banner story talked about the Commission on Election’s plans to make next year’s automated elections credible. Really? Credible? Wow!
 
But that’s not the news. The news was in the other front page story about a ‘giant’ who was in Cebu City to see the mayor. The world’s second tallest man, at 8’4”, wanted the mayor’s permission to solicit funds for a surgery he needed on his right leg, the news said. Follow-up reports had the mayor turning down the giant. He wanted the world’s tallest, not the world’s second tallest.

Really? A sick giant? Wow! But that’s not what struck me. I can go the mayor anytime and tell him I have an acne attack in my left armpit and I need his permission to solicit money for a bottle of Rexona. And the mayor will still throw me out of City Hall. It’s not about heights.

What amazed me was how a colleague and good friend, Sun.Star Superbalita editor Dodong Morallo, mustered enough courage to pose with the giant so this paper’s readers could have an idea how tall the visitor – or how short Morallo – is. In photography, it’s putting the images in context, because if that Pakistani goliath stands alone against a background of pure blank wall for the photo op, the readers will never know if he’s really tall or if he just looks like he’s having a problem coordinating his limbs.

So, Morallo, acting out of pure love of journalism, rose to the occasion. “Sir,” Morallo told the giant, “Please allow me to have my picture taken with you. I’m representing all the vertically-challenged people of Cebu.”

What Morallo did was heroic for us short people. I can’t imagine myself standing beside a man that tall because I’m a person who, until now, still prays to God for at least one more inch to be added to my short frame. Just one additional inch, Lord. That’s not too much to ask. I’ll give to charity for that one additional inch.

But my research told me that I should in fact be happy because at 5’5”, I’m blessed with a little bit more than the average height of a Filipino male, which is 5’4.3”.  I’m even taller than the average Malaysian male (5’4”), the average Indonesian male (5’2”), the average Indian male (5′ 4.8″) and the average Vietnamese male (5’3.8”).  And I’m taller than most average females anywhere in the world! Ha!

Besides, who wants to be 8’4” tall? It’s lonely at the top. For sure it’s not a pleasant experience to keep bumping your head against the ceiling and to be always looking down on people everywhere. I bet this column’s honorarium that those tall people we call in our headlines as giants are not happy with the attention.

That’s why I only pray for an additional inch, just one inch. And Morallo’s courage to stand tall among giants.
( suns.star. march 24, 2009 )