The BRO Code for Men

Keep your word, especially the small ones.

Nobody remembers the big promise you kept. Everybody remembers the Saturday you said you would help them move.

Show up five minutes early.

Early is on time. On time is late. Late is a story you will have to tell.

Shake hands like you mean it.

Firm, dry, eye contact. You are greeting a man, not opening a pickle jar.

Learn to fix one thing properly.

A faucet, a mower, a flat tire. Pick one and become the guy people call.

Stand up when an older person walks into the room.

Your knees will complain. Your grandmother outranks your knees.

Say "I was wrong" out loud.

Three words. Nobody has ever died from them, though plenty of men have come close trying to avoid them.

Call your mother.

Not a text. A call. She has been sitting by the phone since 1998.

Carry a pocketknife, a pen and a little cash.

Two of those will save your day. The third will save somebody else's.

Pay your debts before you buy your toys.

The boat is more fun when the bank does not co-own it.

Put the phone face down at dinner.

If it is important, they will call twice. If it is the group chat, it can wait for dessert.

Hold the door, then keep walking like it is normal.

Because it is.

Work hard when nobody is watching.

Somebody always is. Usually the person who writes your next reference.

Be the calm one in the room.

Anyone can raise his voice. It takes a man to lower it.

Remember names.

Say it back when you meet them. "Good to meet you, Dave." Now you have a fighting chance.

Get outside every day.

Sunlight is free, and your mood has been asking for it since Tuesday.

Don't make excuses when a plan will do.

"Here is what I will do next" beats a ten-minute speech about traffic.

Don't talk big about money you don't have.

The quietest man at the cookout usually owns the grill.

Don't gossip.

If he will talk about them to you, he will talk about you to them.

Don't drive angry.

The guy who cut you off has already forgotten you. Let him win the race to the red light.

Don't lend what you can't afford to lose.

Especially tools. Especially to your brother-in-law.

Don't mistake loud for strong.

Strong is the guy who carries the couch up three flights and does not narrate it.

Don't skip the thank-you.

A text is fine. A handwritten note makes you a legend.

Don't drink to be interesting.

If you are only fun after three drinks, you are not fun. You are just loud later.

Don't ignore the check-engine light, in your truck or in yourself.

Both get more expensive the longer you pretend it is decorative.

Don't start a project you won't finish.

Your garage is already a museum of good intentions.

Don't be rude to the waiter.

How a man treats someone who can do nothing for him is the whole resume.

Don't quit on a bad day.

Quit on a good day, if you still want to. You usually won't.

Don't wear sunglasses indoors.

Unless you are a rock legend. You are not a rock legend. Take them off.

Don't let your word depend on your mood.