Co-Worker Borrowed My Pen

[Mt.Roll]

He jerked off the cap, and not the nib, right?

 

Sorry if I'm being inappropriate here but did you consider a different choice of words?

[ele]

Really? Someone doesn't know how something works, because they just haven't used it, and we call this person a jerk, or a silly person who one should stay away from?

Maybe he is a jerk. How could we know? But it isn't right to make assumptions based on knowledge of how to use an older form of writing; one that many people, kind or mean, have no idea how to use. He probably didn't throw it because he didn't care, but just was treating it like all the other ballpoints he writes with. there's no harm in throwing a ballpoint. I throw ballpoints to people at times...

I just think this reaction is unwarranted.

[Aysedasi]

He jerked off the cap, and not the nib, right?

 

The shirt might wash clean, but the tie would need dry cleaning. Are you considering any of the more permanent inks?

 

 

Only if he lends this guy the pen again.......

 

Really? Someone doesn't know how something works, because they just haven't used it, and we call this person a jerk, or a silly person who one should stay away from?

Maybe he is a jerk. How could we know? But it isn't right to make assumptions based on knowledge of how to use an older form of writing; one that many people, kind or mean, have no idea how to use. He probably didn't throw it because he didn't care, but just was treating it like all the other ballpoints he writes with. there's no harm in throwing a ballpoint. I throw ballpoints to people at times...

I just think this reaction is unwarranted.

 

 

He was too much of a jerk just to ask, 'remind me how these things work?'.....?

 

or

 

'Crikey, this looks old - is it valuable?'......

 

Jerk works for me.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Aysedasi

[ele]

He jerked off the cap, and not the nib, right?

 

The shirt might wash clean, but the tie would need dry cleaning. Are you considering any of the more permanent inks?

 

 

Only if he lends this guy the pen again.......

 

Really? Someone doesn't know how something works, because they just haven't used it, and we call this person a jerk, or a silly person who one should stay away from?

Maybe he is a jerk. How could we know? But it isn't right to make assumptions based on knowledge of how to use an older form of writing; one that many people, kind or mean, have no idea how to use. He probably didn't throw it because he didn't care, but just was treating it like all the other ballpoints he writes with. there's no harm in throwing a ballpoint. I throw ballpoints to people at times...

I just think this reaction is unwarranted.

 

 

He was too much of a jerk just to ask, 'remind me how these things work?'.....?

 

or

 

'Crikey, this looks old - is it valuable?'......

 

Jerk works for me.

Maybe. But some people don't even convince that a pen could cost more than $5 in a pack. It seems strange, but really is true.

[Bill Wood]

A little condescending from the get go wasn't he .... I have grey hair, still use film in my Nikon, and smoke a pipe. People think I'm a throw back to the Nixon years. All in all, ink under the bridge. Relax.

[heymatthew]

I bring a fountain pen to work with me everyday. And I always have one in my pocket. My boss is a very hyper, spontaneous, inattentive person. She has ruined more than a couple of my Pilot Hi-Tec C gel pens. I usually buy the 0.3 or 0.4mm ones for doodling and sketching and she tries to write with them and bends the tips, or because they're so fine, she scribbles and scribbles and scribbles to "get them to write" and ends up mucking up the little ball in there. It's like watching a caveman write with a rock.

 

I was sitting at my desk one day and had my TWSBI 540 ROC on my desk. She was in a massive tizzy and ran to my desk to sign something really quickly. She grabbed my TWSBI in a King Kong Death Grip and yanked on the cap. It wouldn't open (obviously because it's threaded). I said, "It's threaded, you have to tw..." BAM! Pen hits the desk (I thought for sure she had broken it), and she says as she scurries off to source a pen elsewhere, "Matthew! You need to get some normal pens on your desk. I'm tired of trying to write with all those funky things you've got laying around over there!"

 

So now I leave basic ballpoints laying around so she won't grab my nice pens. She still does from time to time but puts them back down when she sees it's not a "normal pen".

 

Another story related to my 540 ROC... A guy at my church was teasing me about my pencil case and said, "What do you need a pencil case for anyway? Let me see what you've got in there." He goes rummaging through, pops out the 540 and proceeds to remove the cap. He is examining it and nib-down over his shirt, twists the end cap forcing a rather large droplet of ink out of the feed and onto his shirt. He blamed me for having "such a stupid pen" and grumbled that I didn't warn him. I said, "Perhaps you'll think twice next time before you go messing with something you don't know anything about."

 

I have no patience for people who don't respect things. I don't go fly the space shuttle and break it because I don't know what I'm doing. There's no such thing as a stupid question. If you're not sure about something, ask. If you're not comfortable with it, don't use it.

 

I don't feel bad for the guy, especially because he threw the pen. And it sounds like he man-handled it anyway.

[minislot]

Someone in my Yr.11 Geography class borrowed my Sonnet for about twenty seconds, the other week; my heart was in my mouth.

 

Some of these stories are making me really quite faint.

Edited January 25, 2013 by minislot

[heymatthew]

Someone in my Yr.11 Geography class borrowed my Sonnet for about twenty seconds, the other week; my heart was in my mouth.

 

Some of these stories are making me really quite faint.

 

QUICK!!! Go buy a new pen! It will relieve the illness you're feeling.

[CoolFool]

I had someone the other day politely refuse to use my vintage Conklin Crescent Filler. "Oh, a fountain pen," he said. "I wouldn't want to mess it up." He's British, and of an age at which he would certainly have had to grow up using fountain pens. Still, he went off to find a different pen with which to write down his email address for me. Nice chap. Sort of the other end of the spectrum.

[andrew98]

There's no such thing as a stupid question...

 

...but there sure are a lot of inquisitive idiots.

 

-Andy

[heymatthew]

There's no such thing as a stupid question...

 

...but there sure are a lot of inquisitive idiots.

 

-Andy

 

I resemble that remark! :roflmho:

[Jared]

The fellow has since left our office, and never asked to borrow a pen from me again.

 

The advice to carry a "loaner" pen -- generally a ballpoint or gell pen -- has saved me considerable worry when others have asked to borrow a pen. Most folks don't know what to do when handed a fountain pen. You might as well have handed them a quill pen and an ink well...

[Ana_]

lol I love this topic.

 

I used to work in an office, front line of fire where everyone who came in always needed a pen. I have always carried my precious high caliber fountain pens to use at work and it is noticed. So many times I've had people ask to borrow a pen and, even before the first ask, I would keep a regular ballpoint pen on hand for that purpose. I never ceased to be amazed at the reactions from certain people who clearly visually noted being handed an inferior pen.

 

A few times I had people specifically ask to use My pen to which I smiled and replied, "this one works"

 

[85AKbN]

pppoypdncaeom. How can you not have a pen? I hand my g2 out before my fp.

[Blade Runner]

I never let people use my fps. Who knows what kind of pressure they are going to exert? I usually have a bp to let them use, but even with bps, I don't lend out my nice ones. In the rare instances when I forget to bring the bp, I just say sorry, it's a fp, could u ask somebody else?

[theexpanciluser]

My thought exactly

 

This is where I would set aside a nice old crummy ballpoint pen completely out of ink, chewed up, bent, discolored, etc. just for him

ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. I died now

[Ego Id Veto]

Man, I only just worked up the cojones to let my girlfriend of over a year use my vintage flex nib pens, especially my fragile little Eversharp Bantam and my favourite pen, my Conklin Crescent.

 

The only pens I'd lend to my coworkers or uni mates are my newer ones like my Pelikano, Noodler's pens, Sheaffer 100 and (only if they're very trusted friends) my Sheaffer Targa and Targa Slim.

[Ego Id Veto]

At work, as a detective, my uniform shirt is a Polo with two pen-holder pockets in the left arm. One of them houses my fountain pen. The other houses what we call a "perp pen," which is a ordinary plastic bic ballpoint pen. Other than the slightly unflattering vernacular, I try to keep up this practice in my daily life too. Only people I really like get the privilege of ever using my fountain pens. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/smile.gif

I'm studying forensic science at the moment, and I learned the hard way which pens to bring to a crime scene. I was using a Waterman Expert given to me by my grandparents to document a scene, when I momentarily put it down to look at something, just for half a second. It rolled off the desk it was on and landed point first on the linoleum floor!!

 

After having the nib replaced, I resolved to use a cheaper fountain pen that would not be so expensive to fix or replace. And in fact it was that search that was the catalyst for my love of fountain pens!

 

At the moment I usually just use my Pelikano or Lamy Al Star, as they're light and durable enough to take a beating, and not too valuable.

 

In fact I got my Pelikano after seeing my Clinical Bacteriology professor using one in the lab, noting how easy it is to sanitise before leaving the microbiology lab!

Edited December 17, 2013 by Ego Id Veto

[85AKbN]

I'm studying forensic science at the moment, and I learned the hard way which pens to bring to a crime scene. I was using a Waterman Expert given to me by my grandparents to document a scene, when I momentarily put it down to look at something, just for half a second. It rolled off the desk it was on and landed point first on the linoleum floor!!

 

After having the nib replaced, I resolved to use a cheaper fountain pen that would not be so expensive to fix or replace. And in fact it was that search that was the catalyst for my love of fountain pens!

 

At the moment I usually just use my Pelikano or Lamy Al Star, as they're light and durable enough to take a beating, and not too valuable.

 

In fact I got my Pelikano after seeing my Clinical Bacteriology professor using one in the lab, noting how easy it is to sanitise before leaving the microbiology lab!

 

For your job you need a Kakuno. http://pics3.city-data.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Rubicon]

Really? Someone doesn't know how something works, because they just haven't used it, and we call this person a jerk, or a silly person who one should stay away from?

Maybe he is a jerk. How could we know? But it isn't right to make assumptions based on knowledge of how to use an older form of writing; one that many people, kind or mean, have no idea how to use. He probably didn't throw it because he didn't care, but just was treating it like all the other ballpoints he writes with. there's no harm in throwing a ballpoint. I throw ballpoints to people at times...

I just think this reaction is unwarranted.

He's a jerk because he's throwing objects that others have lent to him out of kindness. When other people let me use their things, no matter how expensive or cheap, I set it down in front of them in a civilized and respectful manner, and if I give it straight back to them, I always place it in their palm.

 

 

I have no patience for people who don't respect things.

This. Especially if the object he's disrespecting belongs to someone else.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Rubicon