Thread: Gather round for a story...

So this evening I'm at my astronomy lab and me and my partner are working away. We find ourselves with nothing to do other than wait for our camera to finish taking pictures. I take advantage of the time to look at razors on eBay. Well, my partner sees what I'm looking at and says "Oooo, straight razors, those are always fun". I nod and continue looking while he goes and talks with another one of the students in the room. He comes back 5 minutes later to find that I'm still looking at razors and says to me "Dude, what is your interest with straight razors?" I reply that I use them and he tells me "Well...so do I"

I excitedly said, "REALLY!!!" and at that exact second, my spirits rose and my heart leaped a little for here I thought that I had actually found someone to indulge me with conversation about the passion that we all share. But it was not to be. His answer was simply a non-enthusiastic "yeah...". I pressed him a little further:

Me - What kind of razor do you use?
Him - I dunno, I bought it from an antique store...
Me - I just got some new strops, I'm pretty pumped!
Him - yeah? I got a strap with the razor. I just strap (note the improper terminology) it till it shaves...

Someone in the rooms overhears the slightly unusual conversation and asks if straights really give a good shave. My partner shrugs at the question...I half gasp and make an attempt to salvage the reputation of the trusty straight razor by saying "I'm still kind of new to it, but I get pretty good shaves and my face feels a whole lot better than it used to"

Back to the conversation with my partner:

Him - You know what I can't understand? Those sets that have a razor for every day of the week...
Me - Yeah, I don't understand why someone would want seven of the same razor
Him - I can't understand why you'd need more than one...do people really think that their stubble is enough to destroy a razor that you'd need to have more?

And with that, the conversation ended. My enthusiasm was lost on him. I sat there broken-hearted thinking how the first person I've met to have any interest in straights doesn't really have an interest in straights at all.

And so it goes...

"I just strap (sic) it until it shaves"? Eeek.

That's like a chef telling me "Well, I just whip the cream until I think it's done!"

(Ooo...look...fresh butter!)

Gyak!



Greg

I get the same way at work with knives, you'd think that cooks would be into their knives...

The shave can't be good. I'm surprised he has even stuck with it (assuming he has). If I hadn't been persistently interested in it, I would have given it up with my first paki hair hacking experience. It wasn't pleasant to say the least...

I hate when you think you find people that share your passions in life only to find out they haven't a clue what they're talking about. It happens a lot with dirt bikes and fencing

Most people are like this when it comes to things about which they are not passionate.

take lawnmowing for example.

My lawnmower runs on gas and is 20 years old. I don't do any maintenance on it.
Come winter, I put it in the garage without draining the oil or the gas. I don't balance, sharpen or even clean the blades. I don't clean the spark plug or change the oil and air filters.

I am pretty sure that there are lawnmowin afficionados with their own forum somewhere who would be horrified by how I treat my lawnmower.

It is the same with your colleague. He probably shaves with a straight because it is the cheapest way to shave, and for him it is nothing more than removing hairs from his face.

That being said, I can imagine your disappointment.

Perhaps you could offer to hone up his razor, if he bought it from an antiques shop, and all he does is "strap" it then chances are it's pretty dull. Perhaps he'll get a bit more interested if he has a properly prepared tool to work with.

Yeah, i was thinking "Here is someone would probably isn't getting the most out of their shaves...and doesn't even realize it"

I'm curious to see what he's working with, but i think he'd think me a fool if offered to hone and test shave his razor. I'm a little concerned about what he might be using to hone his razor. If i were to guess I'd wadger that he might at most have a barber hone, but he was saying that he has a collection of knives (hunting knives, machates etc...) so logic would say he probably uses the same stone(s) as he uses for those

You sharpen up his razor and give it to him, he will probably lop off a nostril, because has gotten used to the "snow-plow" method of shaving...mark my words.

Kind of like giving a 454 Casull to a person who thinks they know about shooting from plinking with a .22 - stand back and watch the hilarity ensue!

K

As my wife would say " What can you expect from a pig, but a grunt" I would be the same talking about a tape dispenser " yeah tape comes out ok"

I agree though, don't hone it up he will come in without his nose.