At The Barbershop

[DLB]

I am just shy of six months of experience shaving with a straight razor and my local barber has been very encouraging and helpful during this time. He has been cutting my hair for almost twenty years. He constantly instructed me to use the lightest of pressure when using a straight razor. I thought I had progressed really well with more and more consistent shaves but today when I got my haircut, he shaved my sideburns and the back of my neck with a straight. His touch was so light that it was like a piece of silk had run across my neck. I never had the sensation of a razor touching my skin. I just felt a light tickle but the result was a smooth and close shave. It made me realize just how barbarian my shaving technique is in comparison to his.

Now I won't be happy until I can get that same light touch in my shaves. He has given me a new goal. Wow! What an eye opener.

His establishment is an old time downtown barber shop in the lower floor of an eight-story lawyer's building complete with a revolving barber's pole out front. He started working there just after he got back from serving in WWII and recently quasi-retired and sold the shop but still comes in three days a week. It has the old time cash register and the old time shoe shine stand. A lot of the university professors, lawyers, judges, and professional people frequent his shop for a haircut and/or shave. I told him, "You cannot retire until I pass away." At age 68, I am too old to adjust to a new barber. In retrospect, going to his shop every two weeks is one of the great pleasures in my routine. My first haircut was really great and I am now glad that I started a tradition of tipping him 30% at every visit. It was a wise investment.