Spit on it

I went to the CVS to buy some Edge shaving cream the other day and surprise, surprise, the shelf was empty. This isn't the first time. In fact almost every time I go there, something is not on the shelf that I need. Back when I was seventeen years old I was assigned the task of taking care of the dairy department at the Jewel Food Store where I worked. I'm sure the customers loved me because I never, ever let a product run out. Oh, except for the little chocolate shakes that came in a one pint carton. Those were always running out because I stole them. I would sneak into the dairy cooler and suck those things down, delicious. I got so good at it that I could swallow a whole pint in less than twenty seconds. Anyway, I needed shaving cream so I opted for the generic CVS brand. It looks similar to the Edge can and it's for shaving. It's also a dollar cheaper. This morning I used it for the first time and it isn't so bad. The only thing is that the smell of it, the aroma, awakened an old memory. It smelled like my dad, and that memory brought back another from when I was a little kid. Before going to church on Sundays my dad would grab me, pull me close, and look me over.

"Geez Alan, I thought you said you washed your face. It's filthy."
And with that dad would whip out his handkerchief, spit into it, and proceed to wash my face with his spittle. My god I hated that. It was so disgusting that I learned to wash my face early on. But it wasn't just the face that got the saliva treatment.

"Come here Alan, you've got a cowlick...  hock-spittew.. "

Not even into a handkerchief for the cowlick, but right in his hand he would lay a big wad of sputum. As disgusting as it was, that stuff worked pretty good laying down cowlicks. So back to this morning while shaving. The entire time all I could think of was my dad and spit. I ended up cutting myself on the chin and I blame it all on whoever is responsible for stocking the Edge shaving cream at CVS.