Greetings again from your All American adopted pooch.
On recent outings with my new British family, I have noticed a peculiar recurrence that I thought it might be interesting to share with readers.
MikeyM™ measures in at a height of 6'2. Now whilst above average, that is by no means 'towering'. In fact, my online research reports that Official Health of the Nation figures show 30% of men under 25 are now over six feet tall. If the current trend continues, the average British man's height will be 6ft within only a couple of generations. And around 3% of men are already in fact 6'2 - a minority, but a meaningful one nevertheless. Women too are increasing in height as time goes by.
And in case anybody missed this lesson in High School Biology class, the head happens to be one of the most important but highly vulnerable areas of the human anatomy, encasing as it does, the brain, itself a rather useful asset worth keeping safe if it's not too much of an ask.
Yet I cannot keep count of the number of times MikeyM™ has inadvertently headbutted something, sometimes painfully causing visible scrapes or even drawing blood, because potentially dangerous items in public places, such as for example potted plants and light fittings, are hung at a lower level than his height (often by a good inch or 3), upper door frames are too low or the roof heights of staircases decline without warning.
Now were there a recurring phenomenon causing actual and abundantly foreseeable pain and distress among other groups representing the same percentage of society, there would be an outcry for discrimination minority protection rights to be enforced.
Yet this appears to go entirely unchecked.
Perhaps head injury is simply viewed as a 'cost' of being taller. That assumes, of course, that being tall has any corresponding benefits to trade such costs off against.
Or maybe your average Health & Safety Inspector in Good Ole Blighty is around 5'6 and applies their own subjective as opposed to the required legal objective test to this (blatantly obvious) risk.
Or could it be a simple case of this danger flying under the radar because the prevailing opinion is taller people are somehow clumsier than everyone else and so 'should just be a bit more careful'.
Whichever it is, as a nation that prides itself on protecting minorities, the UK should heed attention to this common occurrence as (on a sobering note) it could result in grave head or brain injuries.
While there would obviously be possible claims available to a person who is so injured, taller injured people may be reluctant to come forward due to my observing increased self-consciousness or sensitivity in respect of their height on their parts.
So come on Britain - up your game on this evidently important matter and for goodness sake, "Save our Skulls"!
Big Sloppyz xxx
Hank 🐶🐕🦺 xx