I actually used to be similar, not really paying attention to anyone's height unless they were an extreme outlier. And actually up to that point in time nobody had really commented on my height so I hadn't realized that I was short at 5'8". I mean, on some level I was aware of it, but I saw it as a total nonissue so I never dwelt on it.

Then I was on a date with a girl, early on in college, and at some point while we were taking a walk she asked me how tall my mom was. I mentioned that she was pretty short at 5'2" and asked why she was curious, since it was a totally random question, and her response was, "you're kinda short." Really took me off-guard and I didn't quite know to respond. In my naive mind at the time, since she was 5'7" and I was an inch taller than her, I didn't think my height was even relevant; I thought that as long as I was taller, by any amount, it was a nonissue. This was my introduction to the concept of some women only wanting to date guys who are several inches taller than them in heels (so I would have needed to be like 5'11"+ for her, minimum).

I don't think she intended to offend me and believe it or not the rest of the date actually went well and we had several follow-up dates as well. We even had sex, and I'm only mentioning that not to be a douchebag but to emphasize that somehow I was able to overcome the humiliation of that question. But then again, on a first date would you ever ask a girl how large her mom's breasts were and then follow up with "because yours are pretty small"? I'm guessing not. Even if no offense was meant, it triggered something in my mind.

Ever since then I've been more aware of height in both myself and others, and I'm much more aware of comments that people make about my height. It's entirely possible people were commenting on my height in the past before that date and I just didn't even notice.