When I think back, maybe it helped me because I always
remember the girls coming up and [starting] a conversation about
it, saying, "You're so tall..."
"Yes, I'm tall. Would you like to go out with me...?"
I did not do that.
But my height I don't think was a major problem. I was gangly and
stuff like that, but it was something that a lot of the guys were
going through. I just happened to be taller.
I think stranger for me was the hanger in my voice, 'cause it
happened overnight. In my school, I was in the choir - this is in
Grade 7 - I was a soprano one day, and the next day they made me
a bass. So it was really weird, it just happened, my voice just
cracked. I also grew a lot in one year between Grade 7 and Grade
8. I came back [after] the summer, and people who I hadn't seen
all summer said:"I can't believe you've grown this
much."
I don't know, I think I might have matured the way I treated girls. A kind of coming of age thing, when you realized that you couldn't just yell at them, or stuff like that, punch them around any more, pull their hair. Now you had to be polite. A girl wouldn't talk to you if you [said]:" Come over here and sit down beside me". [It] just doesn't work that way...
Now that I think back, it was always a thing at the dances:
You had to go and ask the girl to dance. Now it's just either way
- a girl can run up to you. When I was in Grade 6, it was so
simple, you'd play a game or something like that.
We'd play baseball or something like that - this is Grade 6 - if
you strike out you have to ask her out. I remember this one time
we played - and this was a serious game. It was, like, "You
have to ask her out if you strike out".
And they were all striking out! Here were the best players in the
school. I didn't understand why. I go up there and I didn't even
think about it. I would hit the ball or something like that.
"What? What's going on here? Everyone seems to be striking
out... and they all seem to be dating those girls now... I think
I should learn my lesson."
So I learnt my lesson.
I'm not one to go up and ask a girl out really. I mean I've
had sort of a problem with that. I'm ore one to let the girl make
the first move.
I don't expect them to be really forward and jump on me, or
anything like that... but it helps me a lot because I like to
know if the girl likes me. 'Cause I always get mixed signals...
and I'll figure, well, she likes me now. Now she doesn't like me.
I don't want to make a fool of myself, or anything like that...
go up to a girl and be rejected or something. It's something that
I want to have a little confidence about. But if the girl's
introduced herself to me first, that sort of gives me the
confidence that I need to pursue the situation.
I'm not shy. I just... okay, maybe I am shy.
Yeah, well, I was dating a girl once that was introduced to me
by a friend, 'cause she asked to be introduced to me. So that was
sort of second hand. The girl was sort of like manipulating to
meet me, which was flattering, you know.
I lasted a fairly long time. It wasn't something we just jumped
at, you know. I mean, maybe that's why it did last. It was a
fairly good relationship. It took time, though, it wasn't like I
just fell for this girl. I was attracted to her, but I didn't
have the feeling that I was going to be with her for a long time
until I got to know her.
Then I was intrigued.
I've been... I've been in love. But it's a strange situation. It wasn't love at first sight at all. I don't really believe in love at first sight. I think that's probably how you're gonna end up hurting each other, thinking that it was love at first sight. Because I think love is something that has to grow. So When I fell in love, it was not something that just happened overnight. It was someone I knew for years on end. One day I just went - hey, I'm in love with this person.
I don't know how to tell someone:"Oh, listen you're in love right now". I'm not the expert in that situation. I was lucky that it happened to me. But it wasn't anything I planned. You know, it just... it happened. It takes time.