Reaching Things on the Top Shelf

Being the awkward people that we are, certain tasks become even more awkward for us. Chanté and I are 5’2. Wait, I lied, I’m actually 5’1 and 1/2 and Chanté is 5’1 and 14/16th (by the way she really stresses the 14/16th) so some things can be really challenging for us, aka reaching things on the top shelf.

You may ask, “why don’t you just ask someone to help you?” But things aren’t always that easy. Being the awkward people that we are, doing simple things as such are not so simple for us. You see, Chanté and I are not only the only set of twins in our family, but we are also the shortest people in our house. So when we need to get something from the top shelf at home, we are faced the decision of either jumping to grab an item, knocking over/breaking something in the process or face the inner embarrassment by grabbing a chair from the kitchen table to get what we need. I’ll be honest, we have no shame in standing on a chair to get what we need. Since I can remember, we’ve been standing on chairs in our house and we’re going to keep standing on chairs to get stuff (mainly because I’m positive we’ve reached our maximum height).

However, it’s a different story when it comes to getting things at a higher altitude when we’re in public. Ever since I was a baby, I’ve had this overarching desire to prove to myself as well as other that I could do something that people thought I couldn’t. Sometimes I come out looking victorious, but sometimes… well let’s just say things don’t go exactly as planned. For example, whenever I’m grocery shopping I’m convinced that I don’t need help and attempt to grab the bottle of syrup on the top shelf. I have gone to great lengths to do so too. I have used the store step stool, I’ve jumped in the air a couple times, I’ve even used a lower shelf to leverage myself up to reach the things on the top. In hindsight, these probably aren’t the best methods of getting things, but at the time it always seems like the best option. I just want to avoid that awkward moment where I have to ask a stranger to grab something for me because they might laugh and I also don’t want them to think that I’m just using them, but I actually am. You see, so many issues, that’s why I just for the awkward jumping in the middle of the aisle until I get what I want.