Using a sharper edge
Like about half of mankind I have a beard. Not much of a beard. Enough to be noticed but not enough to be praised. From time to time I attack the growth with one of those little plastic razors that you buy at the pharmacy. It takes time but there is rarely any blood spilled. Which leads me into an area where I have no personal experience. The cult of the straight razor. I have never used one although I know how to identify it and I realize that you can do serious bodily harm with one. I’ve seen those movies. However my father did not use one and although I suspect my grand father did, it is a certain thing that my great grand father never had such a tool. He comes from the time when the straight razor and the strap to sharpen it or common. What little I do know about straight razors and their use comes from a cousin of my mother. He was a professional barber and at one point he explained about how you learned to be a Barber. It involved balloons and shaving cream. Again I have no personal experience but he explained that you put the leather on the balloon and then you remove it using the razor. Sharp side out. And you practiced until you got it right. That is no explosion. Perhaps that’s what kept me from never trying to use such a tool on myself, not the movies not the cult, rather the fear of an explosion and air leaving the balloon too quickly. I had an image of my own throat cut at my own hand and I never went there. Now, those little plastic razors we buy at the pharmacy are hopeless it takes almost as long to shave as it does to grow the original hair. And yes I do use the sharp edge of it. There has to be a better way. I think this explains why so many old photos showed men with whiskers. They, too realize the danger and facial hair was not that big an issue. Oh well the weekend continues. Down in town they’re having a parade and I will hear all about it later. That parade features a fellow with whiskers apparently.
