I had a shower this morning. I shower fairly often of course, but these days I have four personal assistants, so different chaps help me each time. This morning it was Dom’s turn, and as usual he was also helping me to shave. Sitting there getting wet earlier, something fairly interesting occurred to me: everyone uses a slightly different method of shaving my face. Artur uses long, deep strokes; Dom uses shorter, lighter strokes, re-applying shaving foam. Dad, if memory serves, was somewhere in the middle, shaving sessions often infused with cries of “Keep still you fool!” Ultimately, though, they all achieve the same goal: I always end up with my face nice and smooth and well-shaven. It just interests me to reflect upon how much variety there can be for such a simple, everyday task. It occurs to me that probably only someone like myself would ever notice such variation, as most men only shave themselves, no doubt using the same method day after day. Everyone has their own way of doing things, their own method of reaching the same end. At the end of the day though, it all serves the same purpose. We all have the same needs; all men have faces to shave. It doesn’t really matter how they do it, as long as their faces our smooth by the end. As a community we seem to be forgetting that fact, and turning simple differences into outright divisions. Ultimately, though, it’s all air-filled foam to be washed down the drain.