u/hydecide

I used to work construction as a carpenter, and our foreman was this 5'6" guy who commanded more respect than just about anyone I've ever met. He was a hardheaded, tough SOB, but I've never seen someone put that much fear into people just by talking to them. The guy had forearms the size of tree trunks and a presence that made everyone listen when he spoke.

And the funny thing is, his height never seemed to cross our minds. I wouldn't even call it Napoleon syndrome. He wasn't trying to compensate for anything. That was just who he was. People either feared him or respected the hell out of him, sometimes both.

I'm 6'1", and it wasn't until recently that I even realized this guy was short. I saw a social media post about height being an intimidating factor, and it got me thinking about the most intimidating people I've encountered in my life. He was the first person who came to mind, and keep in mind, this was almost 10 years ago lol.

The way you carry yourself, your confidence, your competence, and the respect you command matter a hell of a lot more than a few inches of height.

Was walking through a parking lot with my cousin when a guy came flying through at what looked like 50 mph. I literally had to pull my cousin back so he wouldn’t get hit.

I threw my arms up like, “wtf was that?” The guy slams on his brakes, gets out, and starts asking if I have a problem. I told him, “You almost ran us over.”

He starts asking me to fight him. I started walking toward him laughing because I train MMA and the whole situation seemed ridiculous. He gets back in his car, says something about not living far away, threatens to come back and shoot us, then calls us “sand niggers” and drives off.

This is probably the fifth time in my life I’ve been called that specifically out of hate.

What I’m curious about is do Black people still get openly called racial slurs by strangers like this? Or do you think some people feel more comfortable saying things like this to Arabs

I’m not trying to say one group has experienced more racism historically. I’m asking specifically about how comfortable people seem to be with saying this stuff openly today

Went down to West Palm and didn’t expect it to be so flat, I’m used to an hour drive from Orlando to find anything rideable is there a place within an hour of west palm that should have decent waves. Juno seemed just as flat so losing hope