What Do People Say To You When You Whip Out That Pen?

[amberleadavis]

D.ick, I've had similar experiences.

LReilley, bummer. They don't even know that FP's didn't really exist back in the day?

[tomgartin]

Last week, after I've had my 2000 for almost a year, I casually mention what it's worth and my wife says, "What?! Can we talk about things like this before you buy them?"
I had told her about every step of my selling pens to fund that purchase, but my opinion isn't admissible as evidence.

But she thinks it would be cute if I bought a pen while we're on holiday in London this summer, so I've got that going for me.

[marcelo]

"He is a real fancy-ass!"

 

You know, like when people know it's classy, don't want to admit it but, beyond all, want to put you down as a finicky person in front of others.

 

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-violent028.gif

[Tanzanite]

Some comments I get is:

"Oh, you have a dip pen."

"Is that a real ink pen?"

"I tried one of those in school. They drip ink and are scratchy." (They tried dip pens).

Edited February 1, 2014 by Tanzanite

[Funkmon]

"He is a real fancy-ass!"

 

You know, like when people know it's classy, don't want to admit it but, beyond all, want to put you down as a finicky person in front of others.

 

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-violent028.gif

Sometimes they're right. Some of those people are in this thread, actually. They have a kind of elitist attitude about using a fountain pen when others don't, you know? Sometimes people who disparage fountain pen users are simply reacting poorly because many of us are assholes about it.

[marcelo]

Sometimes they're right. Some of those people are in this thread, actually. They have a kind of elitist attitude about using a fountain pen when others don't, you know? Sometimes people who disparage fountain pen users are simply reacting poorly because many of us are assholes about it.

You're right, but the issue is that I'm the only specimen of us assholes around here - I've never seen anybody else using a fountain pen.

Edited February 1, 2014 by marcelo

[Lyander0012]

Sometimes they're right. Some of those people are in this thread, actually. They have a kind of elitist attitude about using a fountain pen when others don't, you know? Sometimes people who disparage fountain pen users are simply reacting poorly because many of us are assholes about it.

 

Much as it sucks that the above is true... it's true. There are some people I've come across on this forum who are perhaps a tad too enthusiastic about fountain pens (please don't kill me— you're entitled to your own opinion ). I use other things from time to time, most notably mechanical pencils, and while I am also somewhat fond of rambling on about how fun FPs are to use and tinker with and tune and play with and doodle with (you get the point), I don't turn my nose up at ballpoints or gel pens; let's just face the fact that there are some surfaces that simple won't take FP ink :|

 

Still, it's not as if there are too many of those kinds around. At least in my experience, the vast majority of people here on the FPN have been great people, the sort that I could jokingly argue with or just plain mess around with and not come out with anything too bad. I'm no statistician, nor have I made any surveys or taken notes or anything, but based on my own observations, this is one of the nicer online forums around.

 

Cheers!

 

Kevin

 

 

P.S.

Got a TWSBI 580 with a 1.5mm stub the other week. Lots of people have been going ape over how *awesome* it looks, even more so than my Sailor 1911L (which cost around 6x as much... yikes). The fact that I kinda know my way around an italic nib kinda helps, haha. I've been getting requests for name plates and quotations for quite some time now )

[perth]

Most people don't want to try any of my pens, except those who know what they are and use one already. But then again, it's mostly a one-off conversation and we go back to doing whatever we were before. Nobody is genuinely interested in them, it seems.

[amberleadavis]

Last week, after I've had my 2000 for almost a year, I casually mention what it's worth and my wife says, "What?! Can we talk about things like this before you buy them?"

I had told her about every step of my selling pens to fund that purchase, but my opinion isn't admissible as evidence.

But she thinks it would be cute if I bought a pen while we're on holiday in London this summer, so I've got that going for me.

 

Oh, Tom, it's admissible as evidence - it can and WILL be used against you in an argument in the future. The problem, was the weight of the evidence and that is solely in the providence of the jury.

[Funkmon]

 

I use other things from time to time.

Ugh. How dare you.

[Lyander0012]

Ugh. How dare you.

 

Hahaha, I find it hard to sketch with ink, particularly because I usually make one or two mistakes that require the aid of an eraser XD

[kingcobradude]

I was telling one of my friends about my fountain pen I bought with christmas money and my thoughts of maybe trying to make one. the response I got was "is it a fancy one with mermaids and dolphins?" I am still confused.

[perth]

Last Friday I had someone just ask me if I was using "one of those Harry Potter pens".

[Tanzanite]

People have a tendency to not understand why someone use or talk about something that they have no interrest in and react and respond in strange ways. Even if they do it themselves.

[a.lachlan]

Usually I don't get anything, people only seem to react if they hear how much I've spent on a pen. I definitely haven't encountered people who don't know what a fountain pen is or haven't seen one, I think we here in the UK we have WHSmiths having a fountain pen section in nearly all their stores to thank for that...

[Just I]

At work my colleagues ask if I have any "real" pens.

 

My boss has commented on it being a really nice pen but when tried it he said it was too thin (I made a note of this - he is notorious for walking away with pens. EF nibs at work make it less likely for me to have to hunt my pen down later) :-)

[holgamike]

I teach high school photography and write a lot of BR passes during the day - students almost always say something but honestly I think the most common reaction is:

 

"whoah! that's a cool pen!"

 

 

Then there are the typical….

 

"oooooh, someone thinks they're cool",

"you would use that,"

"you're so old school,"

"can I try it?"

"is that like, a million dollars or something?"

 

No matter what it's always fun to see how they react and the occasional student gets really interested and it's fun to show them a little about the pens. I usually let those kids borrow my Lamy Safari for a day and see if they like it.

 

Ironically it was a student writing with a TWSBI 580 that got me started….

 

This was a fun post to read - thx for starting it.

[wastelanded]

No one ever notices. Too many people oblivious if its not about them. I look forward to the day when a pen nut notices and it turns into an all day conversation.

[Tadeusz]

A peer- "Ugh...you would use one of those old and expensive fancy-pens, you're so old fashioned"

 

I then tried to explain to her that my pen cost quite a bit less than her shiny new iPhone....and I didn't have to wait for hours outside an Apple store in the rain and cold for my pen

 

In her defense, I was using my vintage Pelikan 140 to correct an error in a paper I was writing....on my Smith Corona Sterling portable typewriter.

[diosrl]

What does this knob do (while rotating the piston filler mechanism). OH (bleep) MY PANTS WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME ??