"I'd never danced with a man that I could look in the eye before," she said. She didn't stand out in photos, or have to angle her eyes down to meet the gaze of whoever she was talking to.Īt Tall Club events, which ranged from the not-so-glamorous highway clean-up to formal balls, Elemen felt comfortable. You're the short one.'"įor once in her life, she wasn't the tallest person in the room. There was no "whoa" moment, she said, no sign from above that she had found her people.īut there was one remark she will never forget: "We went to breakfast afterward and they said, 'Mary, you get in the back seat. That first day, picking up trash by the roadside, it didn't immediately click. "So I finally made the call," Elemen said.Īnd that's how she found herself cleaning up a California highway with the Tall Club of Silicon Valley. Every time Elemen walked past, she would see it. Her colleague recorded the pledge in the top left corner of her office whiteboard. They struck an agreement that Elemen would call by Jan. Eventually, the colleague, who was of average height, drew a line. She was drawn to the idea, but felt shy about joining a new group, so she filed the card away.īut she found herself mentioning it to a woman she worked with.
(Yes, they measure.)Įlemen, who is 6 feet 1, qualified easily. To join, women had to measure at least 5 feet, 10 inches, and men 6 feet 2. The little piece of cardboard advertised a social group.
Mary Elemen was in the bathroom at work one day about 23 years ago when a stranger handed her a an intriguing card.
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