Sept. 21, 2019
Let me begin at the beginning. As a working man in his 30's I was caught in the trap of BigMarket Voodoo, I remember 3 blades and lube strips and gel-in-a-can were all the rage at the time. Blades didn't last that long, and I tried to maximize them by shaving every other day or 3. I was in heavy industry and no one cared what we looked like in the shop.
My real frustration came from my teenage son using my razor without me knowing. I shaved in the shower, and you think you have a blade with only 3 shaves on it, yet when you run it across your face it feels like a rusty leaf rake. I'd chastize him, he'd mumble some form of agreement, then do it again. And again, ad nauseum until I'd had enough. One day I told him we were making a run to Sam's Club and I could buy him some blades. He gave me plenty of money and a short list.
When I got home I gave him a large package of blades plus the other items. He asked for his change and I replied (truthfully) that there wasn't any, blades cost $$$, plus the other items and tax and it's gone. He was flabbergasted, absolutey shocked. I said "yeah, that's What I Been Telling You, those blades are expensive!"
A couple months later he tells me "hey Dad, you can buy these double edge blades on Amazon for cheap, look, you can get a sample pack with all these for only $X.00 !" Then he tells me "I bought a DE razor and some blades. I never realized how expensive those cartridges are, and here I got you one too," and he hands me a Merkur open-comb and a nice sample pack of blades.
It was a sort of pivotal moment in our relationship, in that he was a difficult teenager and parental admonishments went in one ear and out the other. Wow, he had actually learned something. It was a starting point in the period where he transformed from a difficult teenager to a polished young Married Man. Neither of us ever went back to BigMarketing.
Now I have grandchildren and that was 20 years ago. My journey had begun to the New Way of shaving, the Old Way my Dad used when I was a kid with his Old Spice Mug and a nice looking butterfly razor. What's new is old, and what goes around comes around.
Let me begin at the beginning. As a working man in his 30's I was caught in the trap of BigMarket Voodoo, I remember 3 blades and lube strips and gel-in-a-can were all the rage at the time. Blades didn't last that long, and I tried to maximize them by shaving every other day or 3. I was in heavy industry and no one cared what we looked like in the shop.
My real frustration came from my teenage son using my razor without me knowing. I shaved in the shower, and you think you have a blade with only 3 shaves on it, yet when you run it across your face it feels like a rusty leaf rake. I'd chastize him, he'd mumble some form of agreement, then do it again. And again, ad nauseum until I'd had enough. One day I told him we were making a run to Sam's Club and I could buy him some blades. He gave me plenty of money and a short list.
When I got home I gave him a large package of blades plus the other items. He asked for his change and I replied (truthfully) that there wasn't any, blades cost $$$, plus the other items and tax and it's gone. He was flabbergasted, absolutey shocked. I said "yeah, that's What I Been Telling You, those blades are expensive!"
A couple months later he tells me "hey Dad, you can buy these double edge blades on Amazon for cheap, look, you can get a sample pack with all these for only $X.00 !" Then he tells me "I bought a DE razor and some blades. I never realized how expensive those cartridges are, and here I got you one too," and he hands me a Merkur open-comb and a nice sample pack of blades.
It was a sort of pivotal moment in our relationship, in that he was a difficult teenager and parental admonishments went in one ear and out the other. Wow, he had actually learned something. It was a starting point in the period where he transformed from a difficult teenager to a polished young Married Man. Neither of us ever went back to BigMarketing.
Now I have grandchildren and that was 20 years ago. My journey had begun to the New Way of shaving, the Old Way my Dad used when I was a kid with his Old Spice Mug and a nice looking butterfly razor. What's new is old, and what goes around comes around.
