With the multitude of high-tech cartridges being shoved in our faces by Madison Avenue compared to the BILLIONS of DE blades sold with little fanfare world-wide, I can't help but be amazed at the power of great ad copy in an affluent society. Even poor people in the USA refuse to quit smoking and feel they "need" things like cable TV when they can't even afford rent.

By shear numbers I would think that demand (world-wide) is for plain and simple DE blades. So why all the R&D and marketing of bigger, better, pricier cartridges? Because we keep thinking this new one will be the do-all and end-all of blades. What will it take for the TV watching, idol fascinated public to finally realize that the hype is just hype and your shave won't be any better using the Megabucks cartridge complete with fifth wheel and 24 hour 1-800-Waaah! tech support.

I can hardly stand it. The shaving aisle at the grocery store has 20 yards of space dedicated to cartridges, and if you look really hard, and don't go too fast, you might be able to find a pack of Persona store label DE blades. If you are really fortunate you might get a choice of Wilkinson DE's for $3.49 for a five pack.

Oh! and lets not forget the lack of shaving soaps and creams that are never in any of the stores I shop at. The real key to a superior shave, regardless of the blade type, is great lather, lather that rinses out rather than clogging the blades. By keeping us addicted to cans of goo, like a heroin addict who needs a score just to survive, they have the power to control the formulas to make sure they only work with the next great offering in blade cartridge technology.

Why is it that so few have left the lemmings in search of true shaving bliss? Do we just not care that instead of getting sheared we are getting fleeced? Will it take another depression before the general public finally says, "ENOUGH! We just want a decent shave without having to sacrifice college for our children to get it."?

I would really like to have a half dozen choices of DE blades, some decent soap and a few creams & ASB's at a local store. I wouldn't even mind if I have to go to the department store and get it from the Estée Lauder and Elizabeth Arden kiosks.

Are we, the shaving geek public, the only ones who care? I guess I am partly to blame. I don't mind sharing the good news about how Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead so that all who believe in him will be saved from eternal damnation, (I'm not kidding here guys, so please do not make jokes about this part), but to talk about shaving with the other guys in the shop is just out of my comfort zone.

So gentleman, what do you think? Are we doomed to a mail order existence? Or will we one day be able to hold our heads high, walk in to the local pharmacy, and say with a loud voice, "I'd like a pack of IP's", and not be embarrassed or asked to leave before they call the police?