i'm a 3rd year rides associate and I have been EXTENSIVELY trained to be VERY particular about height requirements. I worked on Racer for 2 years, and I checked many, many kids who were close, but I wouldn't let them ride. I've been cussed out, boo'd, threatened, pleaded with, and many other things because of the height restrictions.
I remember one particular story from last year, when I worked on The Racer. A father came through the line with his daughter, who was OBVIOUSLY too short. I could tell because her shoulders were not in line with the handrails: this is how we usually judge heights. She was a good inch, two inches short. I asked him if I could check his daughter's height, he said, "no, she's fine" but I checked her anyway. The height scale hit the top of her high ponytail, but not her head. I told him that she couldn't ride, because she wasn't tall enough, and he got FURIOUS! He was like "you see? You're breaking my daughter's heart over a roller coaster ride!" She wasn't even crying, she was just sitting there calmly. And he wouldn't leave me alone about it. He sat IN THE EXIT and continued to harass me about it, until I finally gave up and (as I was crying, because he was being VERY rude) got my supervisor, who told him THE EXACT SAME THINGS I said, and even took him out to the height scale at the front of the line and showed him that his daughter was too short. He finally agreed, and asked if she came back with taller shoes if she could ride. My supervisor agreed, and I left to go on break. When I came back my supervisor informed me that while I was on break the man and his daughter came back, with taller shoes, and she was STILL not tall enough.
Karma's a jerk, but I love it.