Ergonomics

I realize that sometimes, especially as a girl, and especially as me, talking about my thoughts, feelings, and experiences can probably sound like complaining. However, something has been on my mind for a while now, and that is ergonomics.

I am short. Anyone who knows me knows that is probably an understatement. My own personal observation tells me that there are lots of girls my height in the world - but we don't get much shorter than this!

Anyway, I have recently become aware of a problem with my height functioning in the world at large. The problem has been there all my life, but only recently have I been able to diagnose the problem.

The problem is that my legs do not reach the floor. In almost any given standard chair, my legs kind of dangle a few inches above the floor. In high school, I would swing my legs gaily. In college I was able to hook my feet onto the bars beneath the chairs. But in the real world, these options are noticeably missing.

For all you tall people out there, let me just say that having feet that won't reach the floor is quite uncomfortable. It completely destroys posture, for one. During the work day I tend to resort to sitting in odd, and most likely unprofessional, positions. My favorite is to sit cross-legged at my desk.

Sometimes I end up finding an adjustable chair. This can be almost worse. Once the chair is adjusted so that my feet fit flat on the floor, my head reaches barely three feet above the ground. The desk, which is not adjustable, reaches to my sternum.

Now, in the spirit of not complaining, I admit that ergonomics is a tough field. Otherwise there wouldn't be an entire field of science devoted to studying how we work. On the other hand, if they have been able to create adjustable chairs, why can't they go the extra mile and create adjustable desks?

To that point, I would like to propose an alternative to all this adjusting. That is - standing. I am actually working at a client now that has a few high cubicles with barstool sized chairs. I don't know the purpose of these special cubicles, but I would like to see more options like them in the workplace. When I worked in a pharmacy, I rarely felt uncomfortable although I stood all day. Here are some advatages to standing:

• You burn more calories
• Your circulation is better, and so you are generally warmer (for all us ladies who freeze in the office)
• You are more likely to "go" do something - when I am sitting and comfortable and bundled up, I rarely want to get up and go do, well, my job. But if I were standing, coming and going could be a normal business. Indeed, when standing, walking helps to take some of the pressure off the knees
• To the point - in my experience at least, standing desks offer a much more universal view of the world. Taller people have longer arms to reach down, and shorter people are closer to the desk to begin with. This results in practically everyone achieving the right angle to the keyboard (elbows a few inches above), and posture is better. Sure, feet and knees will have to get used to the situation, but in a few weeks, you will probably experience a healthier, happier, you!

I would like to see some willing company take up my proposal. I suggest they allow workers to choose between tall, standing desks and the traditional cube. They should run the trial for a few months and see which group of employees has a higher job satisfaction, is healthier, and is most productive. I would truly be interested in the results of the experiment.

Until then, I suppose I'll just continue to practice my chair calisthenics.