The other day I was working on a project with a colleague that I don’t typically work with. We were looking down an inventory sheet and she noticed the person responsible for all the radios was Brian. She didn’t know who he was. I said, “Brian, the radio guy.” Nothing.

She asked what he looked like. I said “Oh… well… I think he has short hair or maybe he shaves his head.”

She replied, “Is he the guy who is a little taller than me, shaved head, a goatee, carries a little extra weight around his mid-section, not obese but definitely a little chubby, always tucks his shirt in nicely, always has a radio and a large key-ring on his belt, and always, always wears jeans?”

As her description had more detail than I could come up with for my wife of 26 years, “Apparently you know him better than I do,” was my stunned reply.

“Well, is that him or not?” she prods.

“He’s a guy, how would I know?” I reply as I try to remember within 6 inches how tall Brian is and for that matter how tall the woman across the table from me is when standing.

To me Brian is the radio guy. If you need a new radio, to get a radio replaced, to get a radio fixed, find a radio, anything radio; Brian is your guy. I’ve never noticed if his shirt is tucked in nicely.

So, are woman more aware of things around them than men, or am I just clueless? Sounds like a perfect Male Pattern Madness test.

Later that day, I asked a guy to tell me what Brian looked like. The answer was, “The radio guy? I don’t know, he’s the radio guy.” Exactly.

So I ask a woman to tell me what Brian looks like and she says, and I quote, “Shorter guy with a shaved head, and always has his shirt tucked in nicely.” She said some stuff after that, but it all sounded like an adult on a Charlie Brown special after the tucked in shirt part. What’s with the tucked in shirt?

This reminded me of a county planning meeting years ago with 4 other planners. Four of us were men and the fifth was a woman. As we get up to go to lunch, Terri laughed. I asked what was so funny and she said, “I just think it is funny that two of you always have your shirts tucked in perfectly like mannequins when you stand up, and the other two of you are constantly tucking in your shirts all day and can never quite pull it together.” I’ll let you guess which category I fell under as I tuck in my shirt.

The next time I talked to my wife I asked, “Do I tuck my shirt in nicely. “

“A lot better than you used to, but you still need to buy shirts that fit you better,” is her now not so surprising reply. Wow. So I ask if there are men we know that tuck in their shirts with a higher level of proficiency than I do, which is apparently not a very high bar. She rattles off a couple of names instantly. Really? Nice to know you’re paying attention, honey.

So there you have it. While I am fairly certain woman take more notice of people in general, I am now 100% certain that they pay far more attention to how well you tuck in your shirt. You learn something new every day.

So there you have it men, tuck in your shirts; apparently women are watching.