WHEN I WAS A KID

When I was a kid, my first razor was an electric given to me by my parents for Christmas.  I think I was seventeen or eighteen.  I wasn't one to have much facial hair and what I had was very light.  

My dad used a Gillette safety razor to shave.  He stirred up his shaving cream with a brush from a block of soap every morning.   They called them safety razors because the cuts you put on your face every morning by the double-edged blades were just superficial.  My dad wore pieces of toilet paper on his chin all the time.

When I ended up in the Army, I was given one of those safety razors by the U.S. government as a welcoming present.   One of the funny things I remember from that time was a line used by our drill sergeant.  During daily inspection, if he found someone not cleanly shaven, he would say, "'Cruit, stand closer to your razor tomorrow or you'll be runnin' all day."   (I left out the curse words he invariable used.)

*o*