Kickin' It Old School

I recently noticed that phrases such as “it wasn’t like that when I was a kid” roll off my tongue with increasing frequency. Those who know me will tell you that I have been in touch with my inner 85 year-old crotchety old man since I was rather young. This is true. And while it is true that I am fairly conservative in some ways, I am neither a reactionary nor a Luddite. I believe that the only constant in life is change. I applaud the various types of progress we’ve achieved in my lifetime. As a believer in the duality of all things, I recognize that progress can come with a down-side. I love the availability of 24-hour cable news, but recognize that it has left many of us with the attention span of a gnat. Cell phones are great, especially in the event of an emergency, yet have given us the huge problem of distracted drivers. Personal computers have broken down information and communication barriers, and also spawned identity theft and made life easier for pedophiles.

As I think about these dualities and about progress in general, I keep coming back to the notion that newer is not always better. Sometimes, the old way is still the best way. Two wonderful people serve as reminders to me that this is the case.

The first such individual is a Twitter mate of mine, @OTOOLEFAN. He is a fabulous writer (check him out at http://otoolefan.wordpress.com) and all-around wit. He recently wrote a wonderful piece about razor blades. Yes, you heard me – razor blades. It turns out I’m not the only man tired of spending a small fortune on less-than-satisfactory razor blades. I’ve tried everything on the market, and have done so for years. I’ve tried electric shavers; with all due respect to Victor Kiam, they do NOT shave as close as a blade. The best conventional product I’ve used has been Gillette Fusion. It’s better than most of its competition, but one blade lasts me one week and costs approximately $4.00 each. Then I read OTOOLEFAN’s piece about razor blades and asked him for advice. At his behest, I purchased a razor from the Edwin Jagger Company. It is a simple, single-blade safety razor – the kind my grandfather used until the day he died. It is absolutely fabulous. Replacement blades, which last me for two weeks now, cost $.09 each. You can keep all the new fancy-schmancy razors on the market; I’m sticking with what ALWAYS worked best.

Most importantly, my mother, hands-down the smartest person on the planet, is a constant reminder to me that good, old-fashioned common sense always trumps everything else, even when it’s advertised as “new and improved”. If you’re one of those people who has jumped on the neti pot craze in the last few years, I applaud you for saving your money and staying off ineffective drugs – my mother was telling me about neti pots 30 years ago. Why? Because that’s what her mother and grandmother used.  If you’re the type of person who is always on a “diet” and finds that the diet never sticks, I’m not surprised. Starving your body of carbohydrates, or eating steak and eggs for breakfast every day will get you nowhere. The only people who benefit from these diets are the people who are selling these ideas to you. I stay in reasonably good shape, and not because I’m on a “diet” or because I’m a gym rat. It’s because I have a mother who told me a long time ago to eat what your grandparents ate – a healthy, balanced diet which includes the fat and carbohydrates that your body NEEDS.

So I’m gonna keep kickin’ it old school. Thanks, Mom!