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

[MadAmos]

None so far, there are 1400 or so people at the plant and other than a few comments like "nice pen" and a few odd looks my supervisor is the only one that seemed interested. I gave him a Preppy to use along with a few cartridges a while back and he gave the cartridges back when he lost the pen in a couple days. I offered to get him another but he decided it was easier to just use a cheap ball point that he could lose and replace.

 

The only other person at work that I know of that uses a fountain pen is on of the contract work planners and he has his Fathers Skyline, it was not working and he brought ivory me for advise. A re-sack and cleaning and it was good to go he is not an site very often anymore and he never used the pen at work. Due to the sentimental value to him it was not a pen he was willing to lose.

 

Paul

Edited May 23, 2015 by MadAmos

[micalela1]

No. And I am always on the look out. But I'm also into pens in general and buy my own pens for work. Cause I'm picky. Co-workers just think I'm weird. But i'very got the better pens so I'm okay with that.

[snewman]

While I have worked with a few (not many) colleagues who used fountain pens I think it has always been after they have seen me writing with one. I cannot recall coming across someone and discovering they were a fountain pen user.

[mcgeechan]

I see some customers using fountain pens for signing contracts but co-workers only when I give them something a little nicer to write with than a company supplied bic (not even a real bic).

[brunico]

No big deal in the UK. Fountain pens, and typically understated ones, are still the default pen for many of us who were brung up proper. Quite a few of the people I work with use them, including a government minister or two.

 

Well, you can't run the country on biros, can you?

[Reevers]

A chap in my team uses a Pelikan M200 and has it inked with Pelikan Royal Blue, I've spoken to him about the pen and ink but he doesn't seem that interested in much beyond what he has. I often speak to him about watches since we both own Rolexes, but I think he spends most of his money on them rather than pens and ink, since he owns 5 of them!

[makris]

Other than myself, only one executive in the corporate office uses one. Definitely gets attention when I pull out the MB 149!

[JefferyS]

I continue to try to popularize the FP at work by giving faculty their very own Pilot Varsity disposable pens, but they all seem to think they are too "fussy" to use.

 

By the way, the new classrooms have no chalkboards. Just a projector for PowerPoint presentations, and two small whiteboards for making announcements. I am the oldest guy in the division, and I'm the only one chagrined by the expectation of having everything on PowerPoint. Clearly, I'm the dinosaur of the division.

[haruka337]

No one in the office I manage uses fountain pens and when I do let co-workers try them out, they hold them unnaturally or attempt to write with the nib facing to the right. More often than not, I'm told that my pens don't work, but I always shrug and tell them they work fine for me.

 

My boss has shown some interest in the fountain pens I use at work and has inquired about ease of use and how messy inking up pens can be (sometimes I show-up at work with ink stained hands). I think if I can find him a buttery smooth, but firm, nibbled fountain pen in broad nib AND keep my hands ink free, he'll convert.

Edited June 6, 2015 by haruka337

[jody_fpn]

Was written:

>>Nope, and probably never will, work in IT as a software developer

 

I work in software development, and I take all my notes on paper.

Some notes may be typed into a backlog or ticket system - but usually the information starts on paper.

If I need to draw - I use paper & pencil or ink - fighting with Visio is an exercise in irritation that I only engage in WHEN I know for sure what the picture should look like.

 

I use fountain pens 90% of the time or more. The rest of the time I used pencil or ball point (have to use up those ~20 ball points I have lying around).

 

I saw a fountain pen in elementary school in the '70's.

I remember because the operator of the pen used it to hurl ink across the room at someone.

 

I have not seen another fountain pen except mine & the ones my kids + wife use.

Actually, my kids "made me" give their friend a couple of fountain pens + ink as she seemed to be into them once she saw one.

There was a lot of gratitude from the recipient.

 

I digress.

Cheers & God bless.

 

Jody

[thudthwacker]

I've got one co-worker who uses a fountain pen, and has for years. (My first Lamy was canary-yellow because he mentioned that he wasn't fond of Lamy styling, and I wanted to make sure he noticed it. In fairness, he likes my copper orange Al-Star a lot, so maybe for him it's an acquired taste.)

 

After starting to write with a fountain pen, I've become much more aware of what other people write with. I've got a couple of colleagues who tend to use pencils for notes, which surprised me. One co-worker has a ballpoint pen he uses all the time -- a solid-looking brushed metal one with a screw cap. One project manager has a huge stock of purple gel pens which are her preferred implements. A lot of folks take notes on their laptops, which isn't too surprising, as we're an IT department.

[Dhruv_Sood]

The boss of my department does. He uses a Lamy which I was not able to identify.

I asked him for ink suggestions so he recommended Mont Blanc. Although more or less knew that he would suggest it since he used to correct everybody's pronunciation when they said Mont Blanc, I still asked.

[swanjun]

The only other person that I know of is my friend, to whom I gave a Pilot Metropolitan for Christmas and who then went out and bought herself a Lamy Safari. Some of my coworkers are at least interested in my pens, especially the vintage ones with cool stories or filling systems.

[Pelikan_FP]

I've met two new people within the past two weeks who are using FP at work. My senior colleague and I were the only two who use FPs prior to meeting them.

[OldGreyBeard]

I rarely see fountain pens being used but the other day I was in a meeting and the lady next to me was using a Parker Vector. More amazingly she changed to a different colour one part way through (same colour ink) as the original had run out of ink!. She explained that she carries three cheap fountain pens with her as that way she doesn't run out of ink and it doesn't matter very much if she loses one. A Parker Vector costs £12.99 at WH Smith.

 

I carry a Parker 25 around with me as it's indestructible and was using it in the same meeting but I was using cartridges so I could carry spare ink. I've now dug out an old Parker Vector and fitted it with a convertor so I can carry two pens with me to ensure the ink never runs out!

[melodiousb]

I had a funny experience a couple of weeks ago. I was interviewing an internal candidate for a job on my team, and as part of the interview process I was having people write some quick assembly instructions. This candidate pulled out an MB 149, and when I admired it, he told me it had been his grandfather's, and let me try out the lovely oblique broad nib. But then when I showed him the pen I was using--a cheap Dollar demonstrator, obviously not in the same league as the Montblanc, but whatever--he said, "Oh, you still write with a quill? That's cool."

[amberleadavis]

I had a funny experience a couple of weeks ago. I was interviewing an internal candidate for a job on my team, and as part of the interview process I was having people write some quick assembly instructions. This candidate pulled out an MB 149, and when I admired it, he told me it had been his grandfather's, and let me try out the lovely oblique broad nib. But then when I showed him the pen I was using--a cheap Dollar demonstrator, obviously not in the same league as the Montblanc, but whatever--he said, "Oh, you still write with a quill? That's cool."

 

LOL

 

How did it effect the interview?

[ac12]

Over MANY years, I can count the people that I remember using a fountain pen on one hand.

The last one that I remember seeing, was Chinese/French, and he used a Mont Blanc.

[cleosmama]

There are three other people who can talk fountain pens at my work, though I have not seen their pens yet. One woman has a Levenger Truwriter. One guy has an old Pelikan cartridge filler, and another a Faber-Castell pen of some kind.

[melodiousb]

 

LOL

 

How did it effect the interview?

 

Well, he didn't make it to the next stage of the hiring process, but that was (mostly) for other reasons.