Do You Ever See Other People Using Fountain Pens At Work?

[Newjelan]

This wasn't at work for me but it was "work" for the other person. I took my car to be serviced today and as we are looking at a new car, I organised for a loan car of the type I'm thinking of buying. When I was meeting with the Sales Manager I needed to give him my email address. As it's an unusual one I offered to write it down for him. He started to pass a pen & at the same time I reached into my bag for a fountain pen as I had no intention of using the expected ball point. As he passed the pen, he put it back saying, I'll get you another, as that's a fountain pen & you won't want that. I said, well I was just reaching for one. He laughed as my husband told him I have about 300 (he's exaggerating as I have less than 100!) and passed me the pen apologising that it was only a Parker Jotter. We then had a chat about pens and he told me he had about 20 and had stopped bringing good ones to work as he'd had 2 MB's go missing & a couple of others go missing. (He's unsure whether he lost them or they were taken but now only takes cheap fps to work). We then had a long conversation about fountain pens and appreciation of German pens (and cars) and Swiss Watches.

 

Besides the pen discussion, he also recommended a cheaper version of the car I'm thinking of buying which will save us around $15,000.

[melodiousb]

I lent cheap fountain pens to a couple of coworkers on Fountain Pen Day--a Hero 007 and a Dollar 717i. The one who borrowed the Hero told me a few weeks later that she was asking for fountain pens for Christmas, and came by my desk the other day to show me her new charcoal Safari.

[DaveT]

One of the guys in the warehouse where I work, picked up an inexpensive Yafa pen at Fry's electronics. I would have never thought of Fry's for fountain pens. He had lots of questions for me. It was fun to talk pens to someone in person.

[inkandseeds]

I have only one colleague who sometimes uses a fountain pen. I forget what her pen is but it was her father's and has a cracked cap. Her young son also uses a fountain pen. Her nine-year daughter had a dip pen and was really into using it. A month ago, i gave the daughter a Pelikan Pelikano that i had sitting around. Received a very nice thank you from her daughter.

 

Beyond that one colleague, my other colleagues use whatever the college gives them.

 

My students have at times expressed an "interest" in my fountain pens. In part they do so because they find it funny that i use such "antiquated" technology as i teach a course on technology and society. Of course, they find it even funnier that i don't use a cell phone while having multiple computers and tablets.

 

People have noticed my use of pens in public and have even expressed favorable comments about some of the pens.

[drv1913]

I was meeting with someone in his office and stopped talking mid-sentence when I noticed this collection of pens on his desk:

 

Fountain Pens by Dawn, on Flickr

 

I have seldom seen anyone else use fountain pens in real life, let alone have a collection. Needless to say, we talked pens for the rest of the meeting. I did get the impression, however, that he was not all that impressed with my Connaisseurs/Seas and No Nonsenses. That's fine; more for me.

[MauravdL]

I'm waiting for my co-workers to notice I've switched to a fountain pen. They aren't the most observant sorts.

[I like mango cheesecake]

Now two people at work who I consider colleagues are using FPs

[ReacherCreature]

Lately, I was in a conference about a construction project and while the planning office was presenting its design documentation I noticed that a young lady scribbled her notes with a fountain pen. During the next break, I dared to ask her about it. It was a Faber-Castell Loom in violet, whereby she meant the EF-sized nib is a little too fine for her taste.

 

[inkstainedruth]

Not *exactly* work. Well, sort of....

My husband and I have a sideline business running a mobile bakery. No, it's *not* a food truck (although my husband is starting to consider it). We mostly just do one show a year, but due to a weird set of circumstances we're currently doing a second one this year, which is a one-shot deal. Prepping has been a complete nightmare. I got on site on Friday only to have my husband in a screaming match with some woman about camping space (which apparently had been promised to both her and us). A couple of food trucks brought in at the last minute are in direct competition to what we sell. The weather has been mostly in the 90s. Sales (especially in the morning) have been sluggish. We're expecting severe thunderstorms tomorrow and Thursday. I didn't go over today at all because I have felt like complete cr*p (allergies, stress, stomach problems, a knot in my collarbone from having slept funny, swollen ankles from the heat by the end of the day, and some nasty bite on my ankle with a welt the size of a quarter).

But a couple of days ago, some woman came up to the counter with a couple of pens clipped to her neckline....

And I said "Hey, you've got an Esterbrook!" And she was all excited that someone knew what it was. Don't recall the size OH, but it looked like a copper icicle. And it had... a 9312 nib..... Totally jealous. I've never even seen one for SALE. And there she was, with one on a pen.

And her other pen? An unidentified black Pelikan with a nib reground by Richard Binder.... So this woman, who is an SCA calligrapher from Portland OR, and I were geeking at each other for the next half hour or so while I'm dealing with other customers.... Totally made my day. The fact that I knew what she had seemed to have made hers.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[uemuraw]

Now THAT was cool!

[Albert26]

A month ago or so I took a place at the university library, drew out my notebook, my papers... and my Lamy 2000. Suddenly I realised that the guy in front of me was staring at my hand... at my pen. Then I looked at him in turn and noticed he was using a Diplomat Esteem. We have become friends since then

[Manalto]

My local auto-body shop, which has been in business since the 1920s, always wins the "Best Of" in the local paper when those honors are awarded at the end of the year. The staff there are polite and helpful; in my experience, something rare in the auto-repair industry. Recently, I went there to have some minor body work on my car bumper done and the office manager, who is Polish, noticed I was using a fountain pen. He became nostalgic about his school years in Poland and began to reminisce about how much better fountain pens are. So yesterday I stopped by with a Baoer 388 flighter and bottle of Noodler's 'Kingfisher' thinking it would be a neutral, appealing color. This tough, 6'5" tall guy suddenly teared up. "You're going to make me cry" he stammered with his thick accent. I felt a little guilty that the pen I gave him was this cheapo Chinese thing, but I've had good luck with the pen, plus I can stop by again to see how he's doing and if he's ready for an upgrade. Around here, it's impossible to find people who use fountain pens, so I guess I have to create them!

Edited December 11, 2016 by Manalto

[chromantic]

No, not by any of my co-workers. But a guest saw me using mine, asked me about it, then ran out to his car and returned and gave me a Pilot Varsity (blue). He said they were what he used; He's a lawyer so I'm not surprised he'd use them to sign stuff even if he doesn't carry a nice one. Or maybe he does carry a nice one and he keeps these to have people to sign stuff with.

I was delighted, when I tried it at home on my good notepad, to see this ink has red sheen.

[praxim]

The lawyer doing our conveyancing, when he saw my pen, pulled out from his drawer an uninked MB 146 "which had been given to him" then extolled the virtues of his black gel pen. For one of the documents he insisted I sign with the gel "so it was the same" as my wife's signature. I am pretty confident that has zero legal import but there was no value to be added to the task at hand by debating so I settled for a modest eye-roll and complied.

[DubVulture]

I'm an engineer at Rolls-Royce (no, not the cars) here in the UK, and I see more and more FP users everyday! I have managed to 'sell' two Lamy Safaris to colleagues, both of whom infrequently used Parkers but wanted something different. Now I've started looking I see them everywhere: Shaeffers and Parkers are the most popular.

[bemon]

I generally use either an L2K or Pilot VP in meetings when I'm not on my iPad. Neither of those cry out "I'm a Fountain Pen", so no one has commented. But I do keep a Sailor Pro Gear Slim at my desk for variety, and a Pelikan M400 for signing docs/approving invoices. From time to time when I sign something for someone waiting at my desk I say "Hold, on let me get my special signin' stuff pen." Then they comment- either that it's an interesting pen or that they used one in school. I haven't seen anyone else use a fountain pen though.

 

As always I do keep pedestrian writing tools with me. A Waterman Charleston with a broad Montblanc Royal Blue ballpoint cartridge, and a Waterman Hemisphere with a black Montblanc Fineliner cartridge. One comes in handy for mark ups, and another for loaning out or signing waybills.

 

Recently I forced a Lamy Safari onto my fiance who uses it at work for personal notes etc. She in turn got me a Microsoft Office subscription for my iPad. So now I find myself using my pens far less in favour of the convenience of digital note taking.

 

Edit- I prefer the L2K or VP for meetings because they don't look too flashy. If I was a vendor meeting with a prospective client who was trying to negotiate lower pricing while sporting a Montblanc, I wouldn't take them too seriously. Conversely my manager and I once decided not to move ahead with a vendor over his pricing. he said times were tight but he showed up in a new M5, wearing an Oyster and whipped out a Le Grand for his note taking. Maybe times were tight, but that's not the impression we were left with.

Edited April 6, 2017 by bemon

[fpenluver]

Not at work, but looks like the Queen uses it.

 

https://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FC4ItjpdWQAAh1ss.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fprivateeyenews%2Fstatus%2F829275949753565188&docid=5SDYF_s0XW-abM&tbnid=k4Jb7faLAbg-XM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjeoc24hb3TAhUBtpQKHavXAn4QMwgoKAUwBQ..i&w=848&h=1200&bih=974&biw=1920&q=private%20eye%20magazine%20feb2017&ved=0ahUKEwjeoc24hb3TAhUBtpQKHavXAn4QMwgoKAUwBQ&iact=mrc&uact=8

[Runnin_Ute]

I recently ran across a coworker who recently picked up fountain pens. We talk sometimes.

[ManofKent]

I spotted a colleague using Lamy Safari's (took him in a few ink samples), but I've not noticed many people at work using fountain pens.

[OldGreyBeard]

Gawd bless yah Maam!

 

I wonder what type it is?