July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Finding himself in the 'Land of the Tall'
Back in the Saddle
By By JACK RONALD-
The snapshots always catch me by surprise.
There would be a group of us, and for the first time I would notice peoples' height.
It's something I've been pretty much oblivious to, at least until a couple of weeks ago.
That's when my Russian friend Dmitry came to town.
Now, I'm a pretty big guy at 6'1' and that's probably why I've never paid much attention to the issue.
But Dmitry's much bigger. At 25, he's probably stopped growing; but I'd guess him easily at 6'3' and maybe a bit more.
Not a problem. We worked together on a project back in 2003, and if anything I found his height reassuring. Once or twice, in a couple of tight situations, it was almost like having a bodyguard rather than an interpreter.
Showing him around, I took him to the county jail and within a few minutes I was surrounded.
There we were: Dmitry, Sheriff Ray Newton who is every bit of 6'3' and chief deputy Todd Penrod who is in the same neighborhood. In other words, three tall guys and me - the short guy for a change.
It was kind of an odd feeling, and it was even odder when it happened again a second time the same day.
We were getting a tour of FCC (Indiana) Inc. when Dmitry and I noticed that Eric Garringer is about Dmitry's size. This time it was two tall guys and me, the short guy.
An hour later we're in the Jay County Courthouse and stop by to visit Jay Circuit Court Judge Brian Hutchison. He's lean and probably pushing 6'4'. In other words, it was two tall guys and me again.
That night, it was more of the same when I introduced Dmitry to Ron Cole. Both of them have a couple of inches more altitude than I do.
And the next day at the Statehouse, who do we run into but Portland attorney John Coldren, who was doing some lobbying.
John played center for the old Portland Panthers, and he and Dmitry looked like they were ready for the tip-off at center court. I looked like I should be the guy wearing a striped shirt and a whistle.
Finally, after meeting up with a number of legislators and their staffs, we ended up in the governor's office. I'd been in touch with Brad Rateike, a communications assistant to Mitch Daniels. Brad, I had learned, had served in the Peace Corps in Central Asia, which is where Dmitry was born and raised.
What I forgot was that Brad is also 6'3'.
By then it had become kind of a running joke between Dmitry and me. I'd suddenly found myself in the Land of the Giants or a Twilight Zone episode.
It carried over into the next day when we were at Conner Prairie. As we wandered through Prairie Town, one of the role-playing members of the staff headed our way on the dusty street. He had a pipe in his mouth, and he wore a kind of stovepipe hat.
Dmitry took one look at him and muttered, "I don't know about this guy, Jack. He looks pretty tall to me. Should we go in the other direction?"[[In-content Ad]]
There would be a group of us, and for the first time I would notice peoples' height.
It's something I've been pretty much oblivious to, at least until a couple of weeks ago.
That's when my Russian friend Dmitry came to town.
Now, I'm a pretty big guy at 6'1' and that's probably why I've never paid much attention to the issue.
But Dmitry's much bigger. At 25, he's probably stopped growing; but I'd guess him easily at 6'3' and maybe a bit more.
Not a problem. We worked together on a project back in 2003, and if anything I found his height reassuring. Once or twice, in a couple of tight situations, it was almost like having a bodyguard rather than an interpreter.
Showing him around, I took him to the county jail and within a few minutes I was surrounded.
There we were: Dmitry, Sheriff Ray Newton who is every bit of 6'3' and chief deputy Todd Penrod who is in the same neighborhood. In other words, three tall guys and me - the short guy for a change.
It was kind of an odd feeling, and it was even odder when it happened again a second time the same day.
We were getting a tour of FCC (Indiana) Inc. when Dmitry and I noticed that Eric Garringer is about Dmitry's size. This time it was two tall guys and me, the short guy.
An hour later we're in the Jay County Courthouse and stop by to visit Jay Circuit Court Judge Brian Hutchison. He's lean and probably pushing 6'4'. In other words, it was two tall guys and me again.
That night, it was more of the same when I introduced Dmitry to Ron Cole. Both of them have a couple of inches more altitude than I do.
And the next day at the Statehouse, who do we run into but Portland attorney John Coldren, who was doing some lobbying.
John played center for the old Portland Panthers, and he and Dmitry looked like they were ready for the tip-off at center court. I looked like I should be the guy wearing a striped shirt and a whistle.
Finally, after meeting up with a number of legislators and their staffs, we ended up in the governor's office. I'd been in touch with Brad Rateike, a communications assistant to Mitch Daniels. Brad, I had learned, had served in the Peace Corps in Central Asia, which is where Dmitry was born and raised.
What I forgot was that Brad is also 6'3'.
By then it had become kind of a running joke between Dmitry and me. I'd suddenly found myself in the Land of the Giants or a Twilight Zone episode.
It carried over into the next day when we were at Conner Prairie. As we wandered through Prairie Town, one of the role-playing members of the staff headed our way on the dusty street. He had a pipe in his mouth, and he wore a kind of stovepipe hat.
Dmitry took one look at him and muttered, "I don't know about this guy, Jack. He looks pretty tall to me. Should we go in the other direction?"[[In-content Ad]]
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