That Time I Shaved Sabrina's Head

10 February 2017

Yeah . . . you read that right . . . I did indeed shave . . . or at least attempted to shave your Auntie M's head.

I was like 4 . . . 5 at the outside . . . give me a break!

We were visiting my grandparents in South Carolina . . . my mom had put the two of us in the tub . . . left us (not kidding) to play by ourselves. By today's standards, it's really a wonder ANY kid born before 1970 actually survived! Sorry . . . off track again.

Aunt Darys and Uncle Tommy were teenagers and still living at home . . . Aunt Paige was dating Uncle Jim . . . they were visiting!

Of course there was only one bathroom . . . in those days you were lucky to have a bathroom inside . . . a lot of families still used outhouses for the potty . . . boiled water inside to fill a portable tub for bathing. Anyway, Aunt Darys' "bath time belongings" were still on the edge of the tub . . . or maybe the razor belonged to my mom or Aunt Paige . . . doesn't really matter . . . fact was, it was left there. Razors back then were seriously dangerous . . . check this out:

Double edge . . . surgical grade stainless steel . . . thin and soooooo sharp! I still shiver every time I think about these razors . . . can't even stand to look at them!

The razor my dad used was even worse:

Surgical steel . . . single straight edge . . . sharpened on a leather strop! A strop that doubled for use in his day . . . by HIS father . . . for disciplinary reasons! It was so fascinating to watch him use it . . . I sat on the bathroom counter so many times . . . just watching him. He would even shave my face with the back edge of it . . . I loved that! Men will tell you it gives the closest shave, and some modern barber shops still use them

Did you know that starting in the Middle Ages barbers did minor surgery? Dental work too! For centuries . . . dating back to ancient Greece and Rome . . . barbershops were a common place for men to gather for social debates and gossip . . . where the first shave a man received became a rite of passage.

Back to my story . . . 

So, my sister and I were alone in the tub . . . razor perched on the side . . . I looked at it . . . then at her . . . figured she needed a haircut. I don't recall any blood from her because I'm not even sure the razor touched her head . . . my fingers though. The tips of two of them disappeared into the water, and blood was everywhere! No doubt one of us screamed which brought the adults into the bathroom. I can't imagine what they must have thought, and I don't remember much more . . . but as an adult now, I think I might have passed out at the sight of it all!

I still bear physical evidence from that evening . . . two fingers on my left hand scarred!

Funny thing . . . years later . . . at the age of 12 when hair started appearing on my legs, I begged my mom to let me shave . . . all the girls were doing it then, I insisted! Even as tomboy as I was, I hated the hair that grew on my legs! She told me I was too young, and forbade me to use her razor.

Yeah . . . I didn't listen . . . shaved my legs with that old double edge razor . . . removed all the hair . . . and skin off the front of both of my shins! Didn't really hurt at the time, so I did the best I could bandaging and hiding them under pajama pants that night. It wasn't long before my mother discovered what I'd done . . . 

. . . I told her I had a bicycle wreck . . .

. . . a plausible story at the time . . . 

. . . she believed me . . .

. . . I didn't shave my legs again until the "new and improved" double-bladed razors came out years later!

And yes . . . it hurt like mad when the wounds started to heal . . . whatever punishment my mother might have meted . . . had she known . . . would have paled in comparison!