Hear, hear…for the most part.

Like Ching-Yin, I fall victim to the pitfalls of being short and slender. Inaccessible shelves. The world of Nine West forever barred to me. Dangling feet syndrome on all manner of chairs. Jars that mock my freakishly small and weak hands. The absence of curves (sigh). Try getting all your lingerie and business attire from La Senza Girl and Gap Kids without crying yourself to sleep each night. So it used to bug me that some women think that being skinny and small naturally equated to having it better in general.

But over the years I’ve found that there are small comforts to being tiny. Less sales tax for buying junior sizes. The ability to disappear behind a telephone pole when necessary. And the newest and most surprising of advantages…aging and weight gain can be your friend.

Post-quarter-century Karen, who no can longer claim to be 80lbs, have a size 23 waist, or fit a AA cup, benefited greatly from gaining a few pounds and a few years. I can now shop on the fringes of women’s fashion! 98% of adult-sized clothing is still unavailable to me, but XXS and 00 are welcome sights where once I sought out size 8 Youth. And thanks to gravity and that good ol’ biological clock, the curves have finally appeared (but seriously, where were you when I was 16?).

So all you teensy, possibly less endowed women out there, don’t be sad if you pack on a few. Look forward to putting on those baby-making hips and rejoice at the brief but pleasant aftereffects of gravity!