It used to be that the world wasn't comfortable for people over 6 feet tall. Well, that's changed. Now it's uncomfortable for people under 5'8".
I mean, for instance, the lumbar support in car and airplane seats is invariably right under my shoulder blades. Yeah, that promotes good posture, I'm sure.... Or neck rests in cars - you know, the ones that are supposed to help protect against whiplash - are, even at their lowest setting, halfway up my head. So that they force me to bend my head forward until I'm looking at my knees.
And I'm not even unusually short - almost exactly the average for a women in the U.S., at least according to
About.com.
[rant mode on]
But the worst, in my opinion, are desks. Yes, plain old office desks. You see, we sit in front of these things 8 hours a day, and if they're not ergonomic, we end up with long term muscle and joint problems.
So I have a desk at work - it's a pretty standard-issue office desk. It's got a monitor, keyboard, and mouse on it. I've got a relatively comfortable office chair - nicely padded, lumbar support in the right place; it has wheels, it swivels, and it even has adjustable armrests.
Yes, the seat height is adjustable. As if that solves all the problems in the world. You see, if I sit with my feet on the floor, I'm typing with my wrists almost as high as my shoulders - which causes some major wrist pain (yay, RSI). And if I sit high enough that I can type and mouse comfortably - well, my feet are dangling 6 inches off the floor, which besides the pressure on my thighs cutting off the circulation to my lower legs makes it really difficult to maintain good posture, and I go home with my back aching. I can just barely touch the top of the wheel base with my toes, which helps a little bit, but only if I'm leaning so far forward that my face is 7 inches from the monitor and I have to lean my chin on my hand in order to support myself because my back is doubled over so far.
[/rant]
Anyhow, if there are any major office furniture manufacturers out there reading this for some reason that I can't fathom, I urge you to take into account the plight of millions of non-tall people around the world who are in a great deal of pain because of your one-huge-size-fits-all philosophy.