Nowhere to Hide

We have, as one of our regular customers, a man whose physical stature closely resembles the late Andre the Giant. At 7' tall and probably about 400lbs. he's a little shorter than Andre, but in our small town commands no less attention. I don't know a lot about him, other than the fact that he's quiet and good natured and rumoured to have been a professional wrestler once. His walk shows signs of bad knees, perhaps, shuffling as if in a lot of discomfort. He deflects the stares and returns gasps from the little old ladies who bump into him with a polite smile or a grin. He's someone you wouldn't pay much attention to if it weren't for his size.

I always wanted to be bigger when I was growing up. At 5'9" and a medium build I fit into the "ordinary" class of people. With my quiet manner I've always been someone who is almost invisible at any social gathering, which can sometimes be a good thing, but most times I wished I had a quick wit or a tall build so people could say "Hey, there's Tim", and many people would gather around to get my views on the world economy or the slumping baseball team. But when I think of what the tall customer probably had to put up with, especially in this area where so many idiots are grown and redneck bravado dictates that you challenge or taunt someone that size, I think maybe I'm ok the way I am.