I recently saw a talk show on which a woman was complaining that her husband never notices when she gets her hair done. Another lady in the audience was equally incensed about her boyfriend being so unobservant that when she went to the trouble of buying a new, cute bathing suit, he had not even complimented her on it when they went to the beach.

One by one, female audience members shared similar stories about their oblivious men. They were incensed and looking for answers from the panelist, an “expert” on male behavior.

Halfway through the program, I realized that I might be the only woman in America who adores this supposed male flaw. Perhaps it takes a fashion disaster like myself to truly appreciate that men can be unobservant creatures more often than not, but my deodorant-smudged shirt and I have benefited from this trait more times than I can count.

A few weeks ago I met a male friend for lunch with mismatched flip flops on my feet. You can understand how it could happen, right? While getting ready, I stood in front of the mirror and tried both shoe styles on at the same time in order to determine which one looked the best with my outfit. As I was looking down at my feet, I noticed my toenail polish was chipped and in need of a touch up.

I pride myself on my well groomed feet, and I figured that if I was going for the laid back, flip flop style, I was going to make certain the lazy, casual look did not apply to my pedicure! I was on the verge of being late, so I fixed the polish on the toes in a hurry, and in the process of doing so, created a red polish mess on my fingers. While removing the polish on my fingers, I somehow smudged the drying toenails. After repairing the smudge, I was extremely late and rushed out of the house without ever realizing I had never made a final choice on which pair of flip flops to wear. So, I showed up to lunch wearing both. Yes, like a school kid on “opposite day”, I had a different flip flop on each foot, never noticing what I’d done until I got back home two hours later. But guess what? Neither did my male companion!

Now let me make something clear. When I say I wore different flip flops, I do not mean a slight, indiscernible difference. I mean very different. On the left foot, I wore a black and white checkered patterned fabric flip flop with a beige sole and outer edge. On the right foot, an all black, rubber flip flop with colorful jewels adorning the entire strap.

There were plenty of opportunities for my friend to notice my shoe situation. He had watched me approach. We stood for five minutes staring down at his feet and discussing his injured ankle. We sat for fifteen minutes on a bench waiting to be seated. He walked behind me to our table. And somehow, my shoe dyslexia still escaped his radar.

I could choose to feel offended when men don’t notice the fashion successes, or I can say “Hallelujah!” that they miss almost all of the failures. Ladies, believe me when I say that this male attribute to be observant of nothing but our boobs is God’s greatest gift to us! Think about it. This means they probably aren’t focused on the cellulite we women obsess over, the chipped polish or the zit we spend an hour trying to conceal with makeup.

For you gals who are perfectly put together, I can see why it would be annoying to have your efforts unappreciated, but look at it this way: you can relax now. You no longer have to comb through magazines in search of the perfect look to replicate, shop for hours buying just the right outfit, or spend two hours getting ready anymore. Isn’t that a freeing feeling?

I for one, am very relieved to know that when I walked around the gym last week with the XS sticker still stuck to my brand new t-shirt, not a man in the place ever noticed.

Hallelujah!