Two months ago I went to a shop here in Worcester and saw a guy reclined in a chair all lathered and thought wow, I'm going to get to see a pro do a straight razor shave. When she started shaving him with a disposable Bic or something like that I asked the girl cutting my hair what's the sense of getting a shave at the barber if they are just going to use a disposable? She told me that their boss wouldn't let them use straight razors except for shaving necks. I said, "What's the matter, she afraid you'll cut someone's throat?" She said, "Yeah. that's about the size of it."

Last month I was in another shop and mentioned to the guy cutting my hair that I had started using a straight razor. He chuckled and said that there was no way to get a closer shave than with the 3, 4 and 5 bladed systems available today. I just told him that hadn't been my experience and we let it go at that, but I could tell he thought I was some kind of weirdo.

Unfortunately, straight razor shaving seems to be a dying art at the barber shops. Pity.