European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 26, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Columns a gotta get into a lather to find Romance w / 1 by John Windrow stiff Colum not we ran a photo the older any of a in Ely Minn shaving his face Wilh an a. 11 reminded me of the lyrics to a Eal old Chicago blues song in which the Singer throws about How dangerous he is when i shave i we in my Houseboat two men to Houri me. Or i la Cut my Throat if there is .1 masculine mystique and i would never maintain Hinl it exists shaving has to be a big part of in shaving one s face is one of the very few things Lefi is exclusive male Ler Tilory. It s for Cowboy movies. Lonesome Tex ambles in from three weeks on the Chisholm Trail and Sweel Little Nell sits Down and watches him shave. It s been a scene in Many a Grade b film. Of course Nell does t give a rat s whisker about shaving but she s smart enough to flatter Tex. Tex has ii very fragile to. I Low Many bandits did you shoot up out on the cattle drive Tex she asks breathlessly. I Don l reckon i rightly know Tex drawls. Couple of Hundred i of you look so pretty now that you be shaved. Tex she sighs. Tex just stands there wiping the r i or on a tit in Towel and grins at her. I be always wanted to be it daring Shaver. The in my Home town was a very Fine fellow a , , homely Man named Othor. Othrie doomed around town in it Pink and White Oldsmobile that would do 140 on two wheels Between our Only two Flop lights. Othor liked his whiskey and every once in a while on a saturday night hi1 would Demon Strale just what that Olds could do he possessed a keen Wii. The police stopped him one night and said in heir cunning Way Othor you been hitting the bottle Othor waved an empty pint Bourbon bottle at them .1 my said boys i seen whipping the hell out of my old Man who was color Blind went out once and paid Cash for a 56 Olds that exactly like Olhorn 1 can t imagine Detroit making two of them he thought he had a Blue and White Olds until my Mother fainted in the driveway when he pulled up in front of our House of lord in heaven she said As we fanned her off you drive so fast and now you la be in that abominable car and people May think you re she gave us a wild look. People May think hat i m in a car Wilh Olhorn she fainted again. Despite her modification at Othor and us driving id Lical tars it made me feel a special kinship with him. When i was bigger 1 used to have Olhorn Cut my hair and give me a shave. But i went on saturday mornings and on Friday nights Olhorn always warmed up for saturdays i had a bad night and the scissors Are lumping out of my hands like live minnows he would Siy As i sat Down in the big leather chair. It used to make me nervous. Out of respect for Olhorn i wanted to learn to shave Wilh a Barber s Slraight razor. I attempted to Insler the Art when i was in the Navy on a ship in the Pacific. One morning before officers Call the ship look a hard Roll and i Damn chopped Bolh my ears off. I chucked the a or out of the. Porthole and limped to quarters gushing blood at every step while i healed i gut hooked on those Dinky link disposable plastic razors. There s no Way to Cut yourself with one unless of course your Sweet wife has borrowed in to shave her legs. If you Rylo use one of those you might As Well go id the undertaker and turn yourself in. While my plastic a ors May not be very daring at least i Haven t stooped to using electric razors. There s no Romance no flair in those because you Don t lather up Wilh the old shaving Brush and Mug. The manufacturers naturally Are trying to Generale an image for electric razors. I went to a movie the other Day and saw an and for them the hero who looked a lol like Tex in the old Grade b movies jumped out of bed and slapped on his Light Blue jeans. Then he threw himself on a huge motorcycle. Ai he fired up the chopper a Quick scene showed him lighting off his electric razor. The rest of the and featured him driving like a shirted hell Over Mountain Field and Vale interspersed with shows of the razor Zoc Ming Over his Fate ii wore me out just to took at in. Maybe someday a Lumberjack will shave his face Wilh an electric a to get his Mug in the newspapers. Think that would impress the girls dealing with off color jokes and adult movies by miss manners United feature Syndicate dear miss manners i get extremely uncomfortable and Ebarra de whenever someone starts telling off color jokes in mixed company. The same goes for watching adult scenes on video machines at people houses. When my husband is present As he usually is it is quite mortifying for me. I fee like Ich an Oid prude even though i m Only in my Early 30s. Miss manner How do you feel about these things is it now socially acceptable to Tell dirty jokes in mined company i if not How should i respond in Luch a situation and what about the problem of the videos in t it bad manners to invite people Over to your House and then turn on a movie whether or not they care to watch most of the time we Are not told of the movie plans in Advance. I be tried nuking conversation to distract attention but it never works. My husband understands How i feel but does t gel upset Over things like this. He works at a Job where such off color humor it very common. As far a the movies Are concerned he agrees it is rude to make people feel obliged to watch but i believe if in weren t for me he would be Content to go along with the crowd. As you can imagine this problem is becoming a real pain. Can you please offer some guidance before in completely ruins our social life i pintle Reader there seems to be a social Law now in effect the reverse of the traditional one whereby the lowest forms of behaviour Lake precedence Over better ones. Under this Rule the person who objects to being made to Walch dirty movies takes the social disapproval rather than the one who is showing them similarly people who want to listen to loud or continuous background music intimidate those who Are offended by it. Until recently the onus was on people who did t like smoke rather than on smokers. Miss manners is working to repeal this Law. But she is nol getting a great groundswell of support. Those who ought to help Are Loo Busy trying to Stop the offenders from doing what they Are doing instead of making them contain it so it does t annoy others. With the risk of sounding tolerant and reasonable. Miss manners must say that she really does t care How people enjoy themselves As Long As they Don l scare the horses on the Street. Yes it is bad manners to show pornographic movies to guests who expected conversation but it is also bad manners to talk Over he dialogue. Just say a pleasant goodbye and leave. Nol laughing at dirty jokes puts a Damper on them but if the entire conversation is offensive you should also leave. Unless you Are running about scolding others drop the term prude from your thinking. This presumes that dirty movies Are polite and that you Are strange for thinking otherwise. However your social lifers not going to straighten out until you and your husband agree on either mutually enjoyable or mutually exclusive forms of entertainment. Dear miss manners a few months ago a delightful Young lady and i parted company. It was her decision because the could not return my feeling with equal intensity but we went our divergent ways cordially and courteously. During the More incandescent prune of our involvement i had expressed my sentiments in a series of letters. Now i a uncomfortable Wilh the idea of to much personal and closely held material being in the pos senion of one who rejects its premise. Would it be churlish of me to request the return of those letters i realize thai gifts Are normally irrevocable except for engagement rings and i cherish the Farewell gift she gave me accompanied by the Only letter i Ever got from her informing me that there was not a place for me in her life. The entire Issue May be moot As she May have discarded my letters but is it Correct even to ask gentle Reader in a society where nobody knows How to break up properly anymore you have excellent instincts. Miss manners congratulates you on your Courtesy in a situation where most people would be plotting under the name of honesty to do psychological damage All that remains is that you be informed about the proper traditions of breaking up. Asking for one s letters Back was once not Only Correct but so common As to be a euphemism for discontinuing a Romance. Hive an etiquette question please address to miss manners in care of the stars and stripes Apo 0921j, . Forces
