Shaving Police

[Bartelby]

At a certain computer chainstore this morning (whose name I'm convinced is an announcement that technology is America's birthright and we should all be buying on credit) I noticed that one of the employees had the telltale signature of a cartridge razor shave. He was probably twenty years old, pale as our hacker-helping friends often are, with red bumps, raw skin and the sad, lost look of a pizza delivery driver without a cell phone.

As I continued to look around, I noticed that more than half the guys in the store had bad shaves. If they had all lifted their arms out in front of them and started walking around like zombies, my paranoia could not have been greater.

I felt like getting on the PA and saying, "Attention morning shoppers! You won't find what you're looking for in our crappy store with uninformed employees. Please return to your homes immediately and spend the remainder of the day learning how to wetshave."

Of course, I probably would have been beaten about the head with a wireless, ergonomical, media keyboard had I attempted such a message, so I left.

My two-part question is this:

1.) Is my desire to spread the word on wetshaving because I'm so new and enthusiastic or is it a reflection of some great deficiency of character?

2.) Is there a way to preach without being... preachy? For example, could you design a set of business cards that explained the benefits of wetshaving and listed a website/forum? Would it be immensely ridiculous to walk up to someone with a bad shave, hand them a card and say, "here, check this out."

Cause these are the insane thoughts that are filling my head when I'm out in public these days. Am I all alone? (echo, echo, echo) Am I one step away from an airport Hari Krishnas?

 

[guenron]

You are suffering from the desire to become an ayatollah of wet shavola.. You have a deep down desire to help your fellow man live better through lather.. What more can I say?

 

[AACJ]

I've had the same thought about spreading the word. Everyone that knows me by now knows not to mention shaving without hearing my 15 minute lecture on it, but what about the rest of the world. Should I go to each door in my neighborhood with shave brush and razor in hand, only to have the door slammed in my face like some lost Mormon saying, "Have you found Jes"...SLAM!

I thought of making up some business cards with some wording on them like:

For a better shave, check out the "badgerandblade.com" forum.​

Or, at the gym or a restaurant, somehow mentioning on the card the "manly" aspect of shaving with a straight edge or DE and posting the business card on their bulletin board.


Good Idea though, I'd love to hear everyones thoughts as well.

And very rarely will you see me give a thumbs up icon for the POST itself.

 

[Kyle]

Art,

I like the anonymous card idea. It suggests an idea and leaves further inquiry on their terms. They can come and lurk for a while before being overwhelmed with a new idea.

 

[AACJ]

I've also had the idea of going to the local shaving suppliers in my area and asking them if I could leave a stack of the cards there by their stuff. Or even to a barber shop and leave it on his mirror or something (as long as they don't do any shaves).

Or at target, walgreens or walmart, etc...leave some business cards in the shaving section next to some shaving creams (yick) or cartridges (ugh). Although Target would need two sets since their Proraso isn't in the shaving section, but those consumers would probably know about us already.

 

[Cliff]

The Ayatollah of wet shavola........ I like that, it has a certain ring. But if someone doesn't follow your ritual to the letter, are they beheaded ??

Cliff

 

[guenron]

The Ayatollah of wet shavola........ I like that, it has a certain ring. But if someone doesn't follow your ritual to the letter, are they beheaded ??

Cliff

Nah, we just load a VISION with a new Feather, open it to "V", and force them to shave S-N...

 

[mantic]

I'm working with the local Community Adult Education dept. to create a course on traditional shaving for their summer workshop series.

I've managed to convert quite a few people into traditional shaving (including the CIO of a large university) by talking about it as a "hobby" when the subject comes up. If they show anything but indifference (i.e. skepticism, interest, curiosity, etc.) I challenge them to "just try it" by going out and getting an inexpensive boar brush, a cake of Surrey glycerin soap, and a Sensor Excel (or equivalent). That's been enough to sway 8 co-workers over the past year. They've all gone on to buy a better kit, and now when we get together we annoy everyone else by talking about shaving.

--Mark

 

[Austin]

Mark, that's priceless.

 

[rtaylor61]

Andrew,

It's actually $90 bucks for the 3 week course!

Randy

 

[zacharydz]

When I was having a conversation with my elder brother, he mentioned that he had used his mach3 catridge for over a year and I practically shrieked like a little girl. Now I'm telling myself that I need to teach him about all my 'new' shaving knowledge. I'm positive that he's not the type to get ethusiastic about shaving, but I think I'll have to give him my Schick Injector and give him some good brush-less cream (I think that's about the most he would do).

I think after all of us have learned so much about the actual technique of shaving, we feel it is our obligation to spread the knowledge.