Thread: Braggin by Proxy

I'm posting this on behalf of my grandson. I just got off the phone with him 5 minutes ago. He reported the results of his very first wet shave! Obviously I'm proud of him, hence the by proxy posting.

About 2 weeks back he and I got on the subject of wet shaving; I think it was about the time I gashed my pinky finger with one of my str8s. The conversation went from him giving me grief to why I chose to take up wet shaving. I gave him the big 3: nostalgia, skin health, and cost saving; he seemed interested in all three which I found abnormal for an 17-year old. Sooo I asked if he might be interested in learning how. He wasn't sure how to answer because his mother doesn't have the means to set him up with the gear and he doesn't want to ask for what he knows could possibly be fairly expensive. To avoid embarassing him I began digging out my starter gear and offered it to him to see if he could "get the hang of it."
Instead of giving him a str8 razor I gave him the shavette I started with along with all the other necessary gear he would need to get through a shave. Most importantly, I gave him my copy of The World of Straight Razor Shaving to watch. I also gave him a "Practice razor" to learn the proper angle and strokes before ever putting a real blade to his face. I know a shavette is not a straight razor BUT he would not have to worry about stropping or damaging one of my razors. After he left and I gave the situation more thought I realized the err of my decision; a shavette offers more opportunity for cuts and nicks than a straight razor.
I called Trey a couple days ago to see how practice was coming along. He reported that he was practicing almost daily, which pleased me greatly. I told him that when he was ready for his first live shave to give me a call so I could bring him one of my straight razors to use and then explained why. When he called me tonight he said he had had a bad day and needed to relax so he went into the bathroom, mixed up some lather and "went for it." Sound familiar to anyone? I found it quite interesting that a 17-year old would choose wet shaving to relax him considering he had never done it before, except to practice. How cool is that.
He doesn't know it yet but my wife and I purchased a Merkur something something DE for him to take into the Navy with him. While he is away serving his country I will start a small collection of straight razors for him for when he finishes his career as a swab jockey.