Tall Order

To qualify for the Towering Texans of Houston, the second vice president or a delegated member of the prospect committee must verify that you are at least 21 years of age and stand six feet two inches in stocking feet if you’re a man and five feet ten inches if you’re a woman (unless you can provide proof of having met the requirement prior to illness or injury).

But do people with an overactive pituitary gland really need a support group?

Tall people, on average, make more money, hold more positions of importance, are less likely to get Alzheimer’s, and are more responsive than the average joe to clot-dissolving drugs. Tall men get more women and are more fertile, while their female counterparts don’t experience as much labor pain. One study found that 43 percent of geniuses inhabit the higher altitudes.

So what’s the beef?

Well, you’ve got to order your clothes over the Internet, for one thing, or learn how to sew. There’s no leg room on airplanes. If you’re a woman, there’s just not a lot of prospects out there. “I’ve been single for 20 years,” says 1994’s Miss Tall International, Carol Hudson, who stands six feet one inch. Eventually she just got tired of men not taking things further because of “the height thing.” “Even little bitty women chase tall men,” she complains. “When I see a tall man with a really short woman, I think, ‘What a waste of natural resources.’ “

The group changed all that. She meets like-sized individuals twice a week to go dancing or see a play, and members are a bubbling resource on affordable places to find those extra-long shoes. Sure, when they go out, people look at them funny, but they still have those inherent advantages. “It’s easier to find [each other] at street festivals,” Hudson says.