Rant #1,262: Back to Reality

After yesterday's pipe dream of a column, today I am back to reality.

My electric razor broke on me today.

Woe is me.

I have used electric razors for years. I have sensitive skin, and using blades rips up my face where I look like the Frankenstein monster after I shave, so I have used an electric razor since I was about 15 years old, and had to shave pretty regularly.

The problem is, I also have a heavy beard, or could have a heavy beard if I didn't shave.

What happens is that after a relatively short time, the blades in the razor get worn down, and it becomes extremely difficult to shave.

This is not what broke the razor this time.

Although I did notice lately that the blades were starting to wear down, today, that was not the problem.

I opened the razor to clean it out, and almost immediately, the inner workings of the razor--the three heads and the thing that keeps these heads in place--literally fell off, right into my hand.

The mechanism that keeps the heads in place cracked, and for anyone else who has been through this, you know that that is the end of the razor.

I could probably buy a replacement, but I figure I may as well buy a brand new razor, and literally start from scratch.

So after work today, I am going to have to buy a razor, and these things do not come cheap.

Sure, I can probably get a $30 razor, but I have had them, and they don't cut well, and they don't last at all.

So I am going to have to go with the pricier razor, near $100.

And since the one I had that just died on me was about that price, I can say that they don't last either.

I think I had this razor maybe six to eight months, no longer.

I remember that these types of razors used to last for years, but they don't anymore, and I have to wonder why?

Manufacturers don't make them as well because once you are shaving with an electric razor, it is difficult to use a regular blade, so they know you will be coming back for more.

It's not just razors.

My mother's refrigerator just died on her after about 10 years, and she bemoaned the fact that these appliances don't last 20 or 30 years anymore.

Even though she bought a good make and model, the installer said that this unit probably won't last much past seven years or so.

Don't tell me that manufacturers can't make a refrigerator that will last decades or a razor that will last a few years.

They can, they have in the past, but they know their marketplace better now, and they know the public will come back for more.

So tonight, after a long day of work, I have to empty out my bank account to get something decent.

Well not empty it out, but at least put a big crimp in it.

So woe is me today.

I could decide to grow a beard, but I itch like crazy when I have tried to do this, and the beard comes in funny, so fuggedaboudit.

No hair on my head, no hair on my face, heck, at least I don't shave my head like some men do.

That would really wear down the razor even more. I would probably have to buy a razor a month if I did that.

But God has taken that choice away from me, I guess.