Shave It, Shave it Real Good!

My father taught me how to shave when I was 13. At age 26 that means I have been shaving for half of my life. He taught me to shave with a single blade Schick razor, a cup of shaving soap and a soap brush. The first aftershave I used was old spice. My dad, who had always worn a beard, taught me the simple art of shaving when it became evident that I was going to be the only seventh grader at Thomas Jefferson Middle School with a beard. I had become a long haired, mustached, young man while my peers were pre-pubescent, hairless kids. By 8th grade I was shaving every 2 to 3 days. I gained a reputation in my freshman year at Teaneck High School as the only one with a goatee. My beard was shaped evenly and beautifully. My man hairs were evenly trimmed and well manicured as I shampooed and conditioned them every morning before school.

When I was 15, my friends and I would walk to a movie theater a few miles over in the next town. On the way there we would always stop at a deli, "The Greek Deli" as it was known to us, where I would go in, sporting my manly chin hair. It never failed as I would emerge every time with brown bags full of beer ready for teenage consumption. Cigarettes, forget about it! I could buy cigarettes at any store in America with this beard. I was proud of my facial hair, and I flaunted it wildly. A few other people in my high school had grown goatees by senior year, but I was the first, I was the original. I was the O.G. of facial hair.