I was in a Duane Reade drugstore in Harlem yesterday and I was looking for a package of single razor blades, but no one in the store knew what I was talking about. I tried several times to explain what I wanted to the cashier at the front checkout, but she kept trying to sell me replacement cartridges for disposable shavers. Then finally I said:

“No, I’m looking for the ones the hood boys keep under their tongues.”

“Ohhh,” she said. “Why didn’t you say that at first? They on the back wall.” Ha ha. I guess what they say is true: Sometimes you just have to meet people where they are.

Sidebar: I was Googling for video of the scene from Above the Rim (pictured below) where Tupac’s character pulls the razor out of his mouth:

And I found this…

Disturbing.

3 thoughts on “Speaking the same language

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