Thinking about Benny Bell

In the course of seventy-odd years of life here on the ant farm (and yes, some of those years have been far odder than others) I've been (for the most part) clean-shaven. 

Yeah, in recent years, having retired, I do get a bit scruffier than at other times and at the moment am looking at about a week's worth of facial hair. There is no truth to the story that I tend to grow a beard at the bottom of my head to compensate for the bald spot on the top. Though I'll admit it does sound like something that could be true.

Anyway, between being in the Air Force and working for the Department of Defense (and subscribing to the principle 'when in Rome, but not New York') I've shaved I'd guess on average three hundred days a year for about fifty-five years or so. 

For me, shaving has always been like mowing the lawn; no matter how careful and precise you are, you're just going to have to do it again. It was part of a morning ritual that I consistently hated, and the thought of which still annoys me. 

I have old guy whiskers now, which means getting a clean and smooth shave is a lot of work, and that in turn means a lot of nicks and scratches. I take blood thinners, they only work on blood before you ask, so I spend a lot of time and money using styptic pencils and little tiny pieces of toilet paper dotting my face to stanch bleeding. 

I use tubes of shaving cream, or butter, as its manufacturer calls it but I remember my dad had a battered and beaten-up ceramic mug, with a shaving cream disc in the bottom and a bristle brush applicator to start his shaving routine. He didn't have a multi-blade razor but one of those classics where you twisted the bottom and the top would open to accommodate a single double-edge blade. 

The thought of him doing that and the care that went into his daily routine still makes me smile. I never discussed shaving with him (or anything else, upon reflection) and realized years later I was proof that you cannot teach someone who thinks they already know everything.

He shaved every morning, even on weekends and even on vacations. Not sure what he'd make of this proposal, but I'm guessing he'd tap his razor on the side of the sink before rinsing it off under hot running water and putting it back in the medicine cabinet ready to repeat the entire process the next morning.
-bill kenny