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

[apkayle]

Sadly people ask me,

 

"Why would you spend so much on a pen?"

 

My reply: They're cool, here try it.

 

*1 minute later*

 

"Oooh...that's smooth."

 

Then I recommend a Kaigelu, Duke, or Jinhao pen. I converted a couple people to fountain pens this way. Actually, this is how I converted my girlfriend to using (and mercilessly stealing my) fountain pens.

 

 

-

 

random note: Harry Potter fans are very receptive to the idea of having a very personal life-long writing instrument. I think they liken selecting a fountain pen to getting a highly personal wand from Olliver's Wand Shop.

Edited June 2, 2013 by apkayle

[alienette]

Usually people won't say anything until I've met them a few times.

Then they notice that I only write with fountain pens or mechanical pencils:

 

"Do you always use a fountain pen?" followed by the wondering look on there face "Why?" or "Why don't you use a ballpoint?"

 

If they do say something about the pen on the first time usually I just get a nice comment/compliment on the ink colour I am currently using.

[GabrielleDuVent]

Sadly people ask me,

 

"Why would you spend so much on a pen?"

 

My reply: They're cool, here try it.

 

*1 minute later*

 

"Oooh...that's smooth."

 

Then I recommend a Kaigelu, Duke, or Jinhao pen. I converted a couple people to fountain pens this way. Actually, this is how I converted my girlfriend to using (and mercilessly stealing my) fountain pens.

 

 

-

 

random note: Harry Potter fans are very receptive to the idea of having a very personal life-long writing instrument. I think they liken selecting a fountain pen to getting a highly personal wand from Olliver's Wand Shop.

 

Oh, if only we had Ollivander equivalent for pens...

 

I also think HP fans just like antiquated equipment, since Harry uses quills. I'd think notetaking would be a chore and ink bottle smashing would be common (I believe Harry splits Cedric's bag and smashes his bottle in Goblet of Fire), but those impracticalities don't really crop up unless one has used it before, such as inky fingers, ink running everywhere, and where is that drying sand?! I knew I had a bag of it...!

 

I also remember seeing The Chamber of Secrets and noticing that Harry's quill isn't the tipped kind but the kind you use a knife to form the nib, and wondering "... do they teach how to cut quills first thing in Hogwarts?". Apparently, they are terribly difficult to get the right angle, since feathers splinter easily. You'd think they'd make the pupils use the nib-tipped ones. Tsk tsk.

[regid99]

In the beginning my colleagues used to say

 

-Why do you still use this?

-I couldn't use a Fp, I would break it

-It's too expensive...

 

After some time and explanations, they find it normal, some even want to try. Now they notice when I come with a new FP at the office

One of them has bought her her first fp since she left school

[Felix1]

I get a lot of "Is that a...?" from folks who don't know me.

 

About the only pen brand non-users seem to recognize is a Montblanc.

[Lyander0012]

 

"What happens if I do this-"

 

"NO!" Cue me diving to rescue the pen

 

EXACT same thing happened to me when someone tried turning the piston knob on a recently-filled Lamy 2000 of mine. What with the squirt-gun breather hole and the Lamy Blue-Black I had filled it with, there probably would have been a fairly spectacular mess in my classroom had I not reacted quickly enough )

[Lyander0012]

 

Oh, if only we had Ollivander equivalent for pens...

 

I also think HP fans just like antiquated equipment, since Harry uses quills. I'd think notetaking would be a chore and ink bottle smashing would be common (I believe Harry splits Cedric's bag and smashes his bottle in Goblet of Fire), but those impracticalities don't really crop up unless one has used it before, such as inky fingers, ink running everywhere, and where is that drying sand?! I knew I had a bag of it...!

 

I also remember seeing The Chamber of Secrets and noticing that Harry's quill isn't the tipped kind but the kind you use a knife to form the nib, and wondering "... do they teach how to cut quills first thing in Hogwarts?". Apparently, they are terribly difficult to get the right angle, since feathers splinter easily. You'd think they'd make the pupils use the nib-tipped ones. Tsk tsk.

 

Ha...ha. I've actually been a bit of a Harry Potter fan ever since the first film came out way back in... well, I can't quite recall the exact year, but I remember that I was fairly young back then. The fact that a lot of people in school say that I bear a reasonably strong resemblance to the protag only made me even fonder of the series (Would you believe that almost all my underclassmen in college call me Harry Potter? It's flattering, but at the same time fairly irritating).

 

Ironically, the reasons behind my purchasing my first FP were completely unrelated to my nick name, though some others have drawn parallels between my FPs and quills. The first reason was that I grew fond of a Sheaffer Imperial desk pen my grandfather had lying around on his desk, which explains why I decided to buy a Sheaffer pen all those months ago, while the second reason was... well, I'm a fan of Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic series, as well as his short stories (he apparently used a Lamy 2000 to write American Gods

 

P.S.

Just remembered another fairly negative reaction from an... acquaintance of mine: she said that the only reason a person would spend over 100 pesos (a bit more than $2?) was because they were insecure about their image, and wanted to show off.

 

Then again, most everyone in my class has asked to try my pens (naturally, that came with a lecture on proper nib orientation, as well as a stern warning not to press down too hard on the nib), and they all found it to be much smoother to write with than regular ol' ballpoints/roller balls. I've yet to convert anyone, though

[Strombomboli]

If the Harry Potter craze converted some young people to fountain pen users, we should award J.K. Rowling a medal, I think. Honorary member of the FPN, Chevalier de l'ordre mondial du stylo plume, something like that.

[GabrielleDuVent]

 

 

If the Harry Potter craze converted some young people to fountain pen users, we should award J.K. Rowling a medal, I think. Honorary member of the FPN, Chevalier de l'ordre mondial du stylo plume, something like that.

 

We can award her with one of those really cheap ballpoints with names in the body. She might not like the idea of FPs, though; it's one of the hallmarks of privileged class (spending 200 pounds on something when you can buy one with "equal" function for 50p? Preposterous!) and she did write a novel recently that directly indicts the middle class.

 

 

Just remembered another fairly negative reaction from an... acquaintance of mine: she said that the only reason a person would spend over 100 pesos (a bit more than $2?) was because they were insecure about their image, and wanted to show off.

 

Then again, most everyone in my class has asked to try my pens (naturally, that came with a lecture on proper nib orientation, as well as a stern warning not to press down too hard on the nib), and they all found it to be much smoother to write with than regular ol' ballpoints/roller balls. I've yet to convert anyone, though

 

Or one might just be plain tired of donating bic rods to the street pavement. Or one might have really weak writing pressure (like me) and can't write anything legible with bic rods. Or one might have done the calculation and said, "right, 1000 dollars for a good pen. I'm going to use it for 60 years. That's 21900 days, 1000/21900 is 4.5 cents, that's cheaper than a bic."

 

I personally can't write with bic. It becomes illegible with all the ink skips. So it's not from vanity but utility.

Edited June 2, 2013 by GabrielleDuVent

[AndrewThomas]

My favorite response occurred in a graduate class. I study 17th and 18th century American literature and culture and when another student saw the pen, she sort of smugly asked if such pens made me feel closer to the time period I studied. I, of course, let her know that the fountain pen is a late 19th century invention and didn't really gain ubiquity until the early 20th, meaning it had nothing to do at all with those whom I studied. She didn't say much after that. I suppose these are distinctly grad school exchanges.

[jetsam]

.....I lent a MB out and I got it back with a broken nib...).......

That has to be the worse pen story on FPN, and the best lesson learned.

They probably dropped it on its nib like I dropped my Waterman.

I'm afraid I have dropsy; not good for fountain pens.

[MKIM97]

 

 

 

We can award her with one of those really cheap ballpoints with names in the body. She might not like the idea of FPs, though; it's one of the hallmarks of privileged class (spending 200 pounds on something when you can buy one with "equal" function for 50p? Preposterous!) and she did write a novel recently that directly indicts the middle class.

I was under the impression she wrote the Harry Potter books with a fountain pen.

[GabrielleDuVent]

I was under the impression she wrote the Harry Potter books with a fountain pen.

 

I actually heard she wrote with rollerballs. But I'm favourable of the opinion that she wrote with a magical quill that just transcribes the thoughts she has in her head, on parchments.

Edited June 2, 2013 by GabrielleDuVent

[georges zaslavsky]

They say to me :"Do you still write with fountain pens?"

[Trebor]

I use Pilot VPs a lot, which tends to minimize people noticing my pen (its nib footprint is very small). I've gotten mostly curious comments, though people do notice, even if they don't say anything. I had someone say to me, "You know, I've noticed for a while now, but your pen..."

 

It's usually pretty cool taking about my pens, but I've found that money really clouds the discussion. One person freaked out and went around our workplace asking everyone if they could believe that I had hundreds of dollars in pens. Another constantly asks me which of my pens are "better" than others (with the implication that the more money you spend, the better it is).

 

So, I try to minimize disruptions due to my pen use by carrying cheap loaner pens; easier for all involved, and it keeps me from freaking out that they will destroy my pen.

 

Edit: Though I did get that person who freaked out to get a Safari for her husband, so... mission success?

Edited June 2, 2013 by Trebor

[playtime]

Oh. My. Lord.

[GabrielleDuVent]

I use Pilot VPs a lot, which tends to minimize people noticing my pen (its nib footprint is very small). I've gotten mostly curious comments, though people do notice, even if they don't say anything. I had someone say to me, "You know, I've noticed for a while now, but your pen..."

 

It's usually pretty cool taking about my pens, but I've found that money really clouds the discussion. One person freaked out and went around our workplace asking everyone if they could believe that I had hundreds of dollars in pens. Another constantly asks me which of my pens are "better" than others (with the implication that the more money you spend, the better it is).

 

So, I try to minimize disruptions due to my pen use by carrying cheap loaner pens; easier for all involved, and it keeps me from freaking out that they will destroy my pen.

 

Edit: Though I did get that person who freaked out to get a Safari for her husband, so... mission success?

 

People don't bat an eyelash spending $500 on booze, but spending $100 on a pen is the end of the world.

 

But asking people around the workplace if they can believe someone spends money on anything is rather... tasteless, imo. It's not about the money

[Penne Stilografiche]

That has to be the worse pen story on FPN, and the best lesson learned.

They probably dropped it on its nib like I dropped my Waterman.

I'm afraid I have dropsy; not good for fountain pens.

I think it was worth it as a learning experience. It was just an older silver Noblesse that I ended up selling on ebay for more than I paid after fixing it up. I'm just happy the pen wasn't something like my Stipula Etruria!

 

 

 

http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mXEVXv-KqlZ9zYuy6ny9_OA.jpg

[Tom Aquinas]

The most common comment ; "Oh that's a nice calligraphy pen."

 

One of the most amusing to a pen addict;" My grandfather uses a fountain pen but its' one of those modern Parkers which has a 'hooded nib", I think he said."

 

The insults I get when I won't let someone take a short note with a fP are not always charitable.

[Nashten]

"Is that a calligraphy pen?!"
"Really? You use one of those?" - then they proceed to give a disgusting look to me and wander off.

Only had one person legitimately say: "A fountain pen? NICE!"

I carry around a few Uni-ball Rollers and my Cross ballpoint for people just in case they ask me.

Some ask how much I spend on my pens too. "90 bucks for a pen? Are you crazy?!"