“I was tall enough in the lobby.” Harrison Boyink
How accurately do you measure? The carpenter’s mantra is “measure twice, cut once”. Because I’m not a carpenter, my “garage project” motto is “I do it right the second time”. Depending on the task at hand, being a little bit off one way or the other doesn’t always matter. It struck me tonight, though, how what seems like an insignificant difference to you might be pretty darn signifcant to another person looking at that same metric.
Tonight I took took the family to the Holland Aquatic Center. The center has been a favorite stop for the kids as it features a play structure that has all kinds of water features.
It also has a water slide. A nice tall, yellow water slide. To a six year old like my son Harrison, this slide represents two things; a whole lot of fun, and a milestone in the growing up process. It’s a milestone because those immortal, known-to-every-young-kid words stand between the kiddie pool and the stairs to the slide:
“You Must Be This Tall”.
In this case, “This Tall” is 48 inches. Or so the sign says.
Harrison has asked to chart his progress against this goal for the last year, and I thought tonight was the night. According to my tape measure at home, Harrison is 47 7/8” tall. I thought surely he find a spare 1/8” somewhere in his bones. Once in the lobby of the center, I had him stand against the posted guidelines on the wall and sure enough, he was tall enough. Out by the pool, though, it was a different story. There was a good inch between his head and Dolly the Dolphin’s fin. I asked a lifeguard to double-check Harrison, and his gauge showed only 1/2” of growing needed.
So exactly how tall is “This Tall”?
I don’t mind rules. I understand the need for them, and want to teach my kids to accept them. But sometimes rules need to be enforced more accurately and more consistently than others. 1/2” might not seem like much to a teen-age lifeguard, but to a 47 7/8” tall 6 year old boy eyeing an unridden waterslide, that 1/2” is the difference between staying in the kiddie pool, and playing with the big boys.
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