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

[A Smug Dill]

"Which fountain pen of yours is that this time? Number 289?"

[Fermata]

I work and still remain active in an area where fountain pen use is commonplace along with sharp clothes, correct notebook, good watch and even the right accent, these are all 9/10 of the battle. Meetings are often 10-15 people and a chairperson controls the discussion. I see people looking around the table as you take out your pen and notebook, it is all about credibility, MBs are king. Also notebooks are casebound and dated, they may be subject to review at any point in the future, and in my case were referred to by Counsel seven years after use.

 

BTW, we have stopped laptops and recorders being used to take notes during meetings, for a couple of reasons, they slowed down the proceedings as people tried to type verbatim and also one irritating and slow typing man had his keyboard swamped with water by his neighbour, possibiy deliberately!

[Estycollector]

I work and still remain active in an area where fountain pen use is commonplace along with sharp clothes, correct notebook, good watch and even the right accent, these are all 9/10 of the battle. Meetings are often 10-15 people and a chairperson controls the discussion. I see people looking around the table as you take out your pen and notebook, it is all about credibility, MBs are king. Also notebooks are casebound and dated, they may be subject to review at any point in the future, and in my case were referred to by Counsel seven years after use.

 

BTW, we have stopped laptops and recorders being used to take notes during meetings, for a couple of reasons, they slowed down the proceedings as people tried to type verbatim and also one irritating and slow typing man had his keyboard swamped with water by his neighbour, possibiy deliberately!

 

I remember those days when I was in pharma. Everyone had a Franklin Planner and a MB. Mine was the 149. It was in my breast pocket for all to see. I think over time I became more and more of an individual and stopped trying to look like everyone else.

[inkstainedruth]

A few months ago I was in a bit of an altercation with people in the grocery store parking lot over a cart left so that I couldn't easily park, and it got pushed into the next car over. Some scratches to the other car's paint job, some scuffs on mine. The guy and I were sort of getting into it even more than his girlfriend and I had, when I learned that he had LEFT the cart there so as to "more easily load stuff" in his vehicle (he claimed to be shopping for a food bank). We were exchanging insurance information and writing stuff out, and he suddenly looked over and said, "is that... a... LAMY?" And I said it was (it was the Vibrant Pink al-Star I had just gotten in March, on clearance at Vanness, when I was ordering the Safari Violet SE). So suddenly he and I are having a lovely conversation about pens and where to get them in the Pittsburgh area. (I'm sure his girlfriend, who had gotten back in their vehicle by that point, thought we were just nuts.... )

I did call my insurance company when I got home, just to give them a heads up -- but told them I thought it had all been taken care of. And I certainly haven't heard anything about it since from the guy, or either his or my insurance company. Not even sure I kept the guy's contact info at this point.... I should have had him get hold of the guy who runs the mailing list for Steel City Nibs, or passed the contact info for him over to Josh.

Then, when I finally got into the store, some kid who we'd flagged down to get the store manager (who didn't want to know from nuthin') was telling the story to either a cop or store security. I assured them that everything was under control, the minute the other guy saw my pen -- AND recognized the brand! And the kid said "My mother has one of those! She got a bright red one to match her lipstick!"

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth