TALL PEOPLE, SHORT DOORWAYS (standard:Editorials, 1231 words)
Author: GXD	Added: Jul 05 2009	Views/Reads: 3965/2093	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Are you tall enough to hit your head on a low doorway now and then?? Head injuries are among the most costly health care issues. Let's put a few million carpenters to work raising every doorway in the nation, so people 7 feet tall won't have to always du

TALL  PEOPLE,  SHORT  DOORWAYS 

(A proposal to cut health care costs and provide employment) 

Considering the fact that the height of people has increased
substantially since 1950, the number of head injuries suffered by tall 
people who strike lintels has been increasing dramatically.  Health 
care costs for handling serious head injuries of this type are now 
escalating. 

In order to forestall further increases in head injuries due to low
doorways, I would like to propose an initiative making it mandatory for 
every doorway in public or private buildings to be raised to a minimum 
of 84 inches from the present architectural standard of 78 inches. 

To ensure a prompt and enthusiastic response for financing this endeavor
on a global scale, I would like to propose a new tax levy: $1 per year 
for every employed person whose height exceeds 72 inches, plus 50 cents 
a year for each additional inch, up to 96 inches in height ($13/yr.)   
This is for their own special benefit in lieu of health insurance, and 
creates a fund to assist with medical expenses.  No taxation is needed 
for shorter people.   Insurance underwriters would support such a 
movement, since it can greatly reduce hospitalization liability for 
tall people. 

In addition, funding raised from this tax levy will go specifically to
small contractors for housing rehabilitation.  Management of funding 
should be at the local level, not at the Federal level, since there are 
dramatic differences in local economies.  One particular advantage of 
this initiative is stabilization of employment in the construction 
sector of the economy for several years to come. 

Standards and specifications for retrofitting 84-inch doorways must be
drafted, and procedures codified in order to ensure most effective 
utilization of funding.  Materials conservation and re-use should be a 
prime consideration, and provisions should be made for this. 

Property owners who gratuitously improve their properties by raising
doorway lintels to 84 inches or higher will become eligible for 
reimbursement under this plan.  An advantage to the property owner who 
acts promptly is one further assurance of safety for tall occupants. 

Your interest is invited.  Please review the above proposal for an
initiative and relay this message to people you know who may have an 
interest -- particularly people who are taller than six feet (72 in.).  
To support the value of the arguments above, please consider the 
ubiquity of automotive seat belts and bicycle helmets,  which were 
virtually unknown 50 years ago. 

The subject is a reality that has not been addressed.  An alternative is
to modify food characteristics toward more natural (organic) foods, so 
that humans will eventually return toward more balanced proportions in 
the future.  That will take a long time.  The initiative proposed is 
simpler. 

Seattle, May 29, 2009 - Gerald X. Diamond - 

Copyright 2000, All rights reserved 

Ref. 1. In Search of Lost Time 		Published: December 5, 2004 

The only health concern to tall men is Head Trauma which is most often
caused by low hanging lights or doorways. Other than that our bodies 
are built to our height. We have longer lungs and bigger hearts. and 
then some other longer bigger things too ;) People with mild traumatic 
brain injuries often demonstrate variable and reduced ability for 
attention, processing information, word-finding or multitasking. 
Typically, they interpret their experience of slowed processing and 
attention deficits as ''memory'' problems 

Halfway into the testing, the doctor told me that there was no evidence
of a dementing, neurodegenerative or progressive disorder. But the 
tests I flubbed nevertheless showed impairments that were disturbing 
and not considered ''average'' in midlife. He explained that there 
might be a reason for these deficits. 


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