I got a real live shave today and it was quite the experience. I grew out my beard for winter snowboarding, and for this, it served well. Now we are coming into summer and I’m done with it. For a while now, I’ve wanted a real shave with the lathering and the big sharp blade. I had to do some searching, but finally found an old place with an old guy inside. After waiting my turn and then taking a seat in the well-worn chair, the experienced gentleman proceeded to take of my beard with electric sheers. His hand was pretty steady, but not as steady as I would have liked. I saw above the mirror his certification of being a modern masculine stylist. A certification he achieved in 1965.
With the beard off, the lathering began. And went on for a while, and my face really enjoyed it. With that done, he asked if I would like some music. Si, por favor. My choices were folkloric, classical, and tango. I chose folkloric which is typically associated with gaucho culture. A gaucho is an Argentine cowboy. This music has nothing in common with popular (crap) country music in the US. With the music, he commenced scraping off all my whiskers with his sharp blade. Sometimes he would sing along. I felt compelled to, but did not know the words. When side A of the cassette tape finished, so did he, and I was left with an ultra-smooth face. I got splashed with a liquid that gave an ultra-cold sensation and he patched the one minor hole with a little chalk-looking stick. Nice.
