Co-Worker Borrowed My Pen

[Ecriveur]

I was at work the other afternoon and went to a co-worker to have him sign a document. He looked all around his desk for a pen, but couldn't seem to find one. I offered him my 1946 Parker "51" vacumatic, with an XF nail-stiff nib, thinking that he couldn't do it any damage. He held it horizontally in front of him, and jerked the cap off, spraying himself across his white shirt and yellow tie with a small amount of J. Herbin Perle Noire. I saw it, but said nothing. He said, "hmmm...fountain pen," and signed the document, jammed the cap on the pen, and tossed it across the desk to me. As it skidded to a stop, I thought to myself that I should tell him about the ink splatter, but was a little upset about him throwing the pen at me and didn't want to catch grief about my choice of "leaky" pens, so I decided against it. He never noticed the ink splatter.

 

I don't see him often, and wouldn't consider himself a friend. He's the type that would have said something, but in the few times that I have seen him since, he hasn't said anything about the ink. I feel bad. Sort of.

 

If I had that pen, I'd never let anyone else even touch it, let alone write with it. I'd keep a Lamy Safari with me to lend out in that sort of situation.

[wallylynn]

In fact I would uncap the pen for the person and hold on to the cap, to make sure that I get the pen back, or they will get a bad ink stain on their shirt or purse.

This is what I do. Then if they don't pay attention taking, they get a bunch of inky fingers.

[ethernautrix]

Coffe_cup and I made a presentation about fountain pens at a local cafe Friday night. It was mostly Coffe-cup's gig, as I can't speak too many complete sentences in Polish. I began the presentation saying, "When people think of fountain pens, they usually picture this." I held up a Montblanc Meisterstuck 146. As I continued to speak and Coffe_cup held up her case holding about 60 pens, the cafe owner - a wonderful lady whose warm energy makes the cafe an especially comfortable place to hang out - took the Mb 146 from my hand and walked it over to a couple sitting at a window table. Eek! They were civilians who had happened into the cafe and showed interest (asked some questions later). Anyway, the man looked at the Meisterstuck with interest then handed it to a man working on a laptop who was not at all interested, come on! That man pulled the cap off -- I heard the threads as he did this, then watched as he twisted the piston knob. Ha! Faber Castell Stone Grey ink spilled into his hand. He wasn't interested in the presentation! Why didn't he just hand the pen back?! He pulled out a tissue and wiped off the pen and his hand and then snapped the cap back on. GOOD LORD. Coffe_cup was talking. I waited until she paused and said in a stage whisper, "Remember to mention that all of the pen caps screw on and off."

 

Passing the pens around in a cafe was something we had discussed and agreed that we would let people come to the table after the presentation to see the pens with their hands and try a few that we selected for such demonstration. Ay yi yi. That plan went right out the window.

 

Anyway, Laptop Guy didn't examine any more pens. No other pens were mistreated -- well... I'm loathe to mention that the lovely cafe owner didn't retract the nib of an old Waterman safety before trying to put the cap back on it. Damn my lack of Polish! I put out my hand to get her attention and said gently, "You have to retract the nib." An English-speaking man, who attended because he'd heard about the presentation, explained to her and took the pen from her hand to show her how to retract the nib. I saw that the nib had been bent slightly. Not a tragedy. Coffe_cup can fix such bent nibs.

 

The Meisterstuck's threads were not stripped. WHEW.

 

I didn't see a polite way of preventing that from happening, since I hadn't planned to pass my pens around. I kept my Nakayas in the case and brought them out one at a time to show the few people sitting nearby who were paying attention. I uncapped each one before handing it over.

[sharonspens]

Coffe_cup and I made a presentation about fountain pens at a local cafe Friday night. It was mostly Coffe-cup's gig, as I can't speak too many complete sentences in Polish. I began the presentation saying, "When people think of fountain pens, they usually picture this." I held up a Montblanc Meisterstuck 146. As I continued to speak and Coffe_cup held up her case holding about 60 pens, the cafe owner - a wonderful lady whose warm energy makes the cafe an especially comfortable place to hang out - took the Mb 146 from my hand and walked it over to a couple sitting at a window table. Eek! They were civilians who had happened into the cafe and showed interest (asked some questions later). Anyway, the man looked at the Meisterstuck with interest then handed it to a man working on a laptop who was not at all interested, come on! That man pulled the cap off -- I heard the threads as he did this, then watched as he twisted the piston knob. Ha! Faber Castell Stone Grey ink spilled into his hand. He wasn't interested in the presentation! Why didn't he just hand the pen back?! He pulled out a tissue and wiped off the pen and his hand and then snapped the cap back on. GOOD LORD. Coffe_cup was talking. I waited until she paused and said in a stage whisper, "Remember to mention that all of the pen caps screw on and off."

 

Passing the pens around in a cafe was something we had discussed and agreed that we would let people come to the table after the presentation to see the pens with their hands and try a few that we selected for such demonstration. Ay yi yi. That plan went right out the window.

 

Anyway, Laptop Guy didn't examine any more pens. No other pens were mistreated -- well... I'm loathe to mention that the lovely cafe owner didn't retract the nib of an old Waterman safety before trying to put the cap back on it. Damn my lack of Polish! I put out my hand to get her attention and said gently, "You have to retract the nib." An English-speaking man, who attended because he'd heard about the presentation, explained to her and took the pen from her hand to show her how to retract the nib. I saw that the nib had been bent slightly. Not a tragedy. Coffe_cup can fix such bent nibs.

 

The Meisterstuck's threads were not stripped. WHEW.

 

I didn't see a polite way of preventing that from happening, since I hadn't planned to pass my pens around. I kept my Nakayas in the case and brought them out one at a time to show the few people sitting nearby who were paying attention. I uncapped each one before handing it over.

Oh. My. Goodness. I don't know how to say it in Polish, but I stopped breathing while reading this post. Twisted pistons on a 146. Bent nibs on a safety pen. Pens being taken across the room, away from their owner. NOOOOOOOO.

 

I completely understand why the Nakayas stayed in the case.

 

Sharon in Indiana

[ethernautrix]

Oh. My. Goodness. I don't know how to say it in Polish, but I stopped breathing while reading this post. Twisted pistons on a 146. Bent nibs on a safety pen. Pens being taken across the room, away from their owner. NOOOOOOOO.

 

I completely understand why the Nakayas stayed in the case.

 

Sharon in Indiana

 

Yeah. (Smiling.)

 

Update, though: The safety's nib was already bent like that. Coffe_cup hadn't fixed it yet. WHEW!

[LisaN]

I always keep Pilot Varsity pens on me, and keep the expensive stuff in the zip case.

I keep my desk drawers locked.

I have a Chrome Pilot G2 LE for when I have to lend a pen.

 

The main problem is that some people think it is OK to grab your possessions. That your personal items, space, body, etc., is up for grabs. The person who rooted through the pencil case (at church!) is the same kind of person who would take money from your desk or cop a feel in a crowd. Instant character illumination.

[georges zaslavsky]

I wonder if you could turn a bic into a FP ? A nice winter project.....

I tell co workers [ management ] get a FP and they say well I just lose the pens [ bic's , cheap china pens, whatever ]

If they had a quality FP you think they would lose it ? Probability.

If you give them a waterman edson or liaison and since the nib is so stiff, they will use it properly

[jdwhitak]

I once let a co-worker use one of my pens and I just cringed watching him use it. Luckily no damage to the the pen. It was a Lamy Safari so it wouldn't be a huge loss if there was. Now I'm sporting a Sailor 1911. Nobody but me is using that one! These days I always have a sacrificial pen on me in case someone else needs to use a pen.

[elysee]

These days I always have a sacrificial pen on me in case someone else needs to use a pen.

 

I hope that your sacrificial pen is a throw-away ballpoint Bic, Papermate, or other cheap ballpoint pen. It would be a shame to waste even a disposable Pilot Varsity on those who demonstrate lack of care and complete disrespect for writing instruments.

[HandLikeAFist]

A dear fiend was over planning some bookcases for me. He asked for a pen to make a sketch. I uncapped and posted my beloved Kaweco Sport Classic (best nib I have ever had) and handed it to him. He looked at it funny and asked if I had a "real" pen. Nope. So he used the Kaweco and marveled at just how good it was, how smooth, how easy to lay down good lines; he even liked my violet ink. Nice. I trusted him to be respectful because he is a cabinetmaker, careful with his tools.

[Oldparkerguy]

 

Where do you get polo shirts with a pen pocket on the left arm?

Uh oh.. I can see FPN signature tactical left shoulder pen pocket polos as added must haves. Sounds cool.

[MarneM]

Uh oh.. I can see FPN signature tactical left shoulder pen pocket polos as added must haves. Sounds cool.

Maybe we can get them with a custom FPN logo:

 

http://www.511tactical.com/performance-polo-with-511-logo-short-sleeve.html

[Oldparkerguy]

First off, why would you loan anyone else your FP?

Peter Sellers once said, “that’s my pistol pen, get your own pistol pen”.

[Lubee]

I'm quite lucky, most of my colleagues know not to touch the fountain pens in my pen case and that any pen in the cups on my desk - sharpies, rollerballs, finalisers, gel pens and pencils are all fair game.

 

I've only had one close call, I came back to my desk one day to find my IT Director about to start writing a note, he picked up my TWSBi 580 unscrewed the cap and cried "er its one of those writing pens!" and threw the pen and cap across the desk like it was acid burning his fingers. By now I was standing behind him, so I whacked him quite hard on the back of the head and said be careful with other peoples stuff.

 

My colleagues were a bit shocked, I said he shouldn't be so disrepectful - he won't do it again...

[marcelo]

I've only had one close call, I came back to my desk one day to find my IT Director about to start writing a note, he picked up my TWSBi 580 unscrewed the cap and cried "er its one of those writing pens!" and threw the pen and cap across the desk like it was acid burning his fingers. By now I was standing behind him, so I whacked him quite hard on the back of the head and said be careful with other peoples stuff.

 

My colleagues were a bit shocked, I said he shouldn't be so disrepectful - he won't do it again...

 

I like your style, Lubee. http://precisionracingleague.com/ocp/themes/default/images_custom/kick-ass.gif

[sirgilbert357]

Right, it was the cap. Nice catch, which I have included in an edit.

 

When I told my wife, she said that I should have opened the cap for him (thinking it was a screw on), but at least understood that fountain pens should be treated differently.

 

Usually carry a roller ball for others to use, but thought in this instance that the P51 was close enough to a roller ball, and that perhaps I'd make a FP convert...

 

I thought that once too...the girl started yanking on the cap of my Pelikan. In a nervous, alarmed instant I was showing her that it unscrews...so glad she didn't do any damage. That cured me of ever wanting to loan a FP again. I have zero remorse when I deny people the privilege and hand them a Pilot G2 now. I think I may still pick up some Varsitys or something to loan in an attempt to spread the joy...

[Arkanabar]

People in my vicinity ALWAYS need pens, so I keep a cup of supply closet pens on my desk at all times. In order to ensure the last one never walks off, I pulled its end cap out of the barrel, and taped a long wooden pencil to it (nobody's going to pocket a writing instrument over 30cm long). But nobody would touch it. Eventually, I figured out that people assumed it was a pencil, not to be used in the medical record. So I made a little sign that says "THIS IS A PEN" and attached it to the pencil's ferrule with scotch tape.

At least one of my coworkers was sure I was messing with him.

Nearly all of my coworkers know I use fountain pens. I always ask them if they get writer's cramp, and recommend fountain pens if they do, and mention my own use of them for that reason if they don't. I'm generally willing to lend them out, first uncapping them and then providing instructions -- "Hold it with the quill/point on top, and write with as little pressure as possible."

My vintage pens almost never go to work. If they do, they do not leave my breast pocket. I don't fret too much about my assorted cheap school pens.

[eloquentogre]

How much did a jerk respect your valuable Parker 51 by throwing it ?

 

How much did you respect your valuable Parker 51 by lending it to

a jerk ?

 

Do something nice for your P51. Sleep well.

 

We should have a "What have you done for your Parker 51 today?" Thread.

 

I gave mine a little silicone grease and couple of o-rings between the section/ring/barrel - it had a playful habit of inking up my fingers after refills from that area. I figure it's be happier chewing on the O-rings.

[PS104]

You feel bad even tho he threw a valuable fountain pen? What kind of a douche throws a pen he borrowed from someone??

How many kinds of "douches' are there

[Betweenthelines]

I've learned to just kind of be an a-hole about others using my pens. I also keep ballpoints on me. Last time I let coworkers borrow my Pro Gear Imperial Black I cringed as I watched one of them start writing with it upside down. Thankfully she used very little pressure and nothing was harmed. This is a practice of boundaries, boundaries, boundaries.

 

Fountain pens may have been the mainstay years ago, but they are now a specialized item. And they are very personal. You don't ask lightly to borrow your coworker's cell phone or car - may seem like a fountain pen is different but I would argue that these days, they are similarly personal.