I mentor an "at risk" teenager (and I learned this is quite an understatement). One of the painful realities is that there are few adult male role models in his life besides drug dealers and other street thugs (his biological father--who by choice and legal barriers--included). In fact, when he was in middle school remarked that he could not think of even one friend who had a father who lived in the house...
"The Kid," as I'll refer to him, is a bit small for his age (confidentiality restrictions prevent me from using his real name), and at 16 has been getting slightly more noticeable peach fuzz, which he was thrilled that I even noticed. He was aware of my wet shaving hobby and asked if I could show him how to shave.
On one hand I was delighted to. Working with him I learned he has no positive childhood memories with his father (and not many with his mother either, unfortunately). But The Kid is very impulsive and, well, doesn't always focus well.
I had some shave soap samples and he picked out Maggard's Barbershop. He quickly got a decent lather worked up in the bowl and put it on his face. I had to think carefully: if left to his druthers he'd scrape 5 layers of skin off in search of the barely visible hairs! I layed out a towel and pre-dialed 911 on my phone "in case he cut himself badly" (that got his attention!) I said for the first pass, don't worry about the hair, just scrape off the lather.
I demonstrated and he followed very carefully. He did a great job! More fun was we wiped the razor on the towel and could see the shaved hairs (more prominently than on his face!), and he was truly excited. "Those are my hairs?" Yup..
I explained the "scrape off the lather" technique was all he had to do--slicing off "skin" would be really painful. We did two passes and then applied some witch hazel and bay rum. He looked carefully in the mirror while massaging his face, looked at me and smiled broadly, "now I feel like a real man!"
As we cleaned up I pondered the irony: The Kid had already been involved with stuff that would make your blood curdle, but rarely anything that made him proud or even good about himself. Letting him enjoy his first shave was a great experience to share.
"The Kid," as I'll refer to him, is a bit small for his age (confidentiality restrictions prevent me from using his real name), and at 16 has been getting slightly more noticeable peach fuzz, which he was thrilled that I even noticed. He was aware of my wet shaving hobby and asked if I could show him how to shave.
On one hand I was delighted to. Working with him I learned he has no positive childhood memories with his father (and not many with his mother either, unfortunately). But The Kid is very impulsive and, well, doesn't always focus well.
I had some shave soap samples and he picked out Maggard's Barbershop. He quickly got a decent lather worked up in the bowl and put it on his face. I had to think carefully: if left to his druthers he'd scrape 5 layers of skin off in search of the barely visible hairs! I layed out a towel and pre-dialed 911 on my phone "in case he cut himself badly" (that got his attention!) I said for the first pass, don't worry about the hair, just scrape off the lather.
I demonstrated and he followed very carefully. He did a great job! More fun was we wiped the razor on the towel and could see the shaved hairs (more prominently than on his face!), and he was truly excited. "Those are my hairs?" Yup..
I explained the "scrape off the lather" technique was all he had to do--slicing off "skin" would be really painful. We did two passes and then applied some witch hazel and bay rum. He looked carefully in the mirror while massaging his face, looked at me and smiled broadly, "now I feel like a real man!"
As we cleaned up I pondered the irony: The Kid had already been involved with stuff that would make your blood curdle, but rarely anything that made him proud or even good about himself. Letting him enjoy his first shave was a great experience to share.
