He wondered and worried, would hotel rooms begin emulating air travel pricing, monetizing everything? He wondered if there would be a day when he reserved a room but that doesn’t mean he has a room – just like buying an economy airline ticket or even rental cars (see Seinfeld for more). He can imagine going online to rent a room and being offered upgrades. Ten more dollars for both a bed and chair in the room on top of what you’re paying for a preferred floor and location, size, and view. Twenty-five more for pillows, sheets, and blankets. Go for the Deluxe Room Plus – it includes complimentary coffee and a television, just fifty dollars more.
Unsolicited
We come to the matter of shaving. I’ve been doing it since I was fifteen years old. Being in the military for twenty years meant that I shaved my face every duty day and never went more than one day without shaving.
I used to try new ideas whenever they came on the scene, trying to achieve that closer, smoother, more comfortable shave they were forever promising. Little helped. I started with throwaway razors. Then there were double blades. Triple blades. A little lubricating strip. Swivel head. All okay but nothing that made headlines.
Meanwhile, prices, lordy how the prices went up. Used to buy a five pack for about three dollars. Now I was buying thirteen razors — Gillette somethings with three or four blades — for almost thirty dollars. At Costco, where low prices rule.
Walking into Costco last week, I saw a display for Harry’s razors. I’d seen them advertised at different places on the net and TV. And yeah, they interested me. These were on sale, thirteen blades for thirteen dollars. Since I was running low on razors, I decided to give them a shot but I wasn’t expecting anything shave-changing.
Well, first, they were a little weirdly shaped, enough of a difference to make me wonder about how they were going to go over my face. Had five blades, but yawn, who doesn’t? Ditto, lubricating strip. Well, I used it and holy cow, it was so much more comfortable. And yeah, it did give me a closer shave.
I stared at it in my hand. What witchcraft was this?
Whatever it was, I recommend trying them. They impressed a jaded old grizzly like me. Might impress you, too.
Charges
Charge the morning
Charge the night
Charge the day
Charge the light
Charge the phone
And the car as well
Charge it all
On the way to hell
Charge your buys
At the stores
Charge your donations
To the poor
Charge the present
With some crimes
Charge the past
With guilty signs
Charge the government
And politicians, too
Charge me
And I’ll charge you
Michael Seidel, writer 