This past Thanksgiving I packed all my method/wetshaving supplied and headed home for the holiday. It was a horrible drive! I was battling motion sickness and an ear infection. Drive an hour, stop for 2, etc etc. Took me 2 days to drive from Lubbock, TX to Illinois and I had to drive through the godforsaken state of Oklahoma. Sure, their football teams are good, but it gets a lil tiresome when every sign has the word "Cherokee" on it. Things didn't get better once I got home. I had all my goodies on the bathroom vanity. The soap, shaving cream, AS, my Shavemaster brush, a nice big mug, the Merkur HD, and a stack of Feather blades. The Old Man (a tip of the hat to A Christmas Story) saw my stash. His only words were, "You use all that stuff? That's stupid!" Fine words of support from the resident patriarch. I didn't even bother letting him try wetshaving since he's old, set in his ways, and has a "perfectly fine Bic and some Barbasol in a can" stuff he uses. I did, however, let my brother-in-law try it. He took the HD and started making a pass with the lather I whipped up. I never found the HD to particularly intimidating but he must've. His hands were shaking like he was holding a Death Adder. A shave is bound to be a disaster when you're hands are shaking as such. He couldn't even finish shaving without crying like 5 year old girl who had last her Barbie doll. So I packed all my shaving stuff up and sauntered back to my house a defeated man. No one understands me cept for you guys. I'm buying all of you Christmas presents instead of my family because you all accept my wetshaving ways.
Great post. I personally dont know why so many people get nervous with straights and DE razors. They usually do just as you said..tremble as if they are crossing a rope bridge over a 100 ft drop.
Well at least it wasn't a 8/8 Wade & Butcher. Most of my family think I'm certifiably insane. I've learned to keep my shaving stuff in the kit while it's out of the sanctuary of my bathroom. "You put that thing on your FACE?! WTF is WRONG with you?!" lol. Sissies.
Well, a straight is a big piece of well sharpened steel that you slide along your face. There are some things about that to make one nervous...they don't call them "cut throats" for nothing...
Good post. Buy me a christmas present. I'm poor. I'll take the sweet marias 8lb sampler and the stove top popcorn roaster. Maybe a BBQ roasting drum. A shavemac brush wouldnt hurt either.
You do realize that you drove through the Cherokee Nation, right? As in, the independent nation of the Cherokee people? I assume you drove through Eastern Oklahoma, which is actually a lovely place. Western Oklahoma is a desolate, horrible wasteland, though. Like Texas. It's sad that your family doesn't understand. My wife is amused, but it makes me happy so she supports me. I'm sure my dad would react exactly the same way as yours, though, if I talked to him anymore. Only more mockingly.
My parents think its dumb. But they gave me a GFT soap in a bowl, which happened to be sandal wood, and was subsequently sold to buy other soap.
My mom and dad dont really give me any greif, they support me in it and say what ever works for you. I get some crap from friends and that is it.
I drive my co workers crazy. My dad also uses some kind of foam and a bic. I remember giving him the trial size Aqua Velva, lime frost, redwood, ice blue, musk. But hey, my barber gave me the 57 Super Sport, cleaned up nice. Sorry you had a bad experience. I hope you had a nice Dopp kit!
What you use makes you happy and people should appreciate that. and being different, which seems to be for DE and straight users, is the kind of different I like being.
I come from a family where the guys often have to shave twice a day, and news of anything shaving-related that really works is appreciated. Guess I'm lucky.
That is interesting. I always thought the Cherokee were mostly in the east. I had no idea the tribe were in the west as well. I've always had hobbies and interests that were less than mainstream so I'm used to it. Take it as a badge of honor. My family seems slightly interested but not enough to take the plunge. My friends just think it's another strange quirk of mine. I'm always surprised to hear of people being nervous for the first DE shave. I was relaxed and calm when I first raised my 38C. I guess I already knew it couldn't be any worse than a cartridge/electric shave.
Great story. My Dad thinks I'm nuts for using a DE. He, however, enjoys quality soap or cream and a shave brush a few times a week. He just thinks DE's are dated technology and doesn't buy into the whole better quality shave/better experience mentality. *EDIT* I forgot to mention that your title for this thread was excellent!
