My pen almost caused an issue

[Artimid]

So I was helping someone today who wandered by my desk. Shortly before this I was writing on my writing, and didn't realize what was going to happen.

The person, for reasons unknown, decided that a simple process needed to be recorded and helped herself to my vanishing point. I didn't even see it until I heard the unmistakable click of my pen in pain. She ended up writing with it upside down, scribbling with it since it wouldn't write, and then throwing it onto my desk before I could really pull it from her hands.

The lesson? My lovely vanishing point is going into hiding, and my Safari is now going to be my desk pen. I never thought it would happen to me, and I failed to take a lesson from this board. So for new prime reading this, hide your good pens, you never know when someone will yoink them. With some of the pens you guys here have, I am amazed you don't walk around with a safe tied to your belt.

 

[Cognati Crotty]

Even if I just have 2 pens with me at work, they are always in my pen roll...and no one touches that, because the ramifications would be great for that person...

 

[Bob L.]

I teach in a middle school. My 51 lives in two spots. My hand or in my pocket.

I have an $8 Bauer in my desk drawer. When, a kid wants to try a fountain pen, that's the pen they use.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

LOL...I handed one of my folks a VP to sign something and he said..."I don't know how to use this!"

 

[Andy]

Only let a muggle use one of my fountain pens once, turned a fine into a broad
Since then, pocket...hand....pocket.....hand, etc.

 

[maxman]

Everyone at work knows not to touch my pens.
Our main door is locked so people can't just walk in and grab a pen off my desk.

 

[Artimid]

I was wondering, maybe synagent should commission work. I can get a sign saying something like, "You aren't Columbus, and my desk isn't the New World. Anything you found on here is not to be discovered. If you brought, don't leave it. If you didn't bring it, assume I already claimed it in my own name. Ask for permission to touch my goods, and I can provide a tool for you." in nice fancy writing. The people around me should know not to touch stuff, but she didn't even indicate that she was going to write. Just grabbed it and started going to down. >_< I have been nursing the nib to make sure it will still be fine.
And I -do- have an $8 pen!! It is a pilot XXF! Heck yeah, fill that up with some Eel to give it good flow, and leave that for the general populance!

 

[Slivovitz]

The idea that all pens are somehow communal property is a surprising blind spot that occurs even with normally considerate people. It bothered me even when my "nice pens" were just ballpoints, Parker Jotters and Fisher Space Pens; it has bothered me a lot more since I started carrying fountain pens that could actually be damaged by a few seconds of ham handed abuse. I work in a small facility where everybody knows everyone else, and it's understood that nobody touches my pens. It shouldn't be just about nice things, though. If I'm caught short and need to use somebody's cheap disposable ballpoint, I ask. And if the owner says no, well, that's his right.

 

[AABCDS]

I would have said something to your co-worker. "You know that's a $140.00 pen right?"

I remember when someone on the plane volunteered my Rite in the Rain click-top pen to a fellow passenger. Somehow she managed to break it temporarily. That thing survived 10 months in Afghanistan to be nearly destroyed by someone who that it was a twisty bottom.

It tears me up when someone doesn't know how to operate a pen and you have to tell them. "It's a clicky top."

 

[Purplemonkey]

I teach high school, my nice pens stay in my hand or pocket. I keep some Here 616's handy for them to try out fountain pens if they are interested. If they show care, I will let them try some of my pens.

 

[the_edski]

Some people...

I keep a Pilot Precise in clear view for people who absolutely need to use a pen passing by when I'm not at my desk. No one in my dept. has an interest in FP's, but I keep a Pilot Varsity handy for when workers from other segments show curiosity. So my nice pens (knock on wood) stay in my hands only.

 

[Eeyore]

Everyone in the office knows that I use a fountain pen. So they assume that any pen lying on my desk is a fountain pen

Good that nothing bad happened to your VP!

 

[ShinyRex]

Im lucky that my boss and a few co workers use fp so they are used to them but I also keep sacrificial ball point in plain view for the unwashed masses.

 

[Doc4]

I would have said something to your co-worker. "You know that's a $140.00 pen right?"

In a quiet moment, hand her a printout of the Goulet page with your pen on it and the price, and say ... this is the pen you took without asking and nearly destroyed.

 

[djh]

In a quiet moment, hand her a printout of the Goulet page with your pen on it and the price, and say ... this is the pen you took without asking and nearly destroyed.

Yes please.

This was not caused by your pen at all, rather by an ignorant co-worker.

 

[Andy]

In a quiet moment, hand her a printout of the Goulet page with your pen on it and the price, and say ... this is the pen you took without asking and nearly destroyed.

+1 yep

Or if you don't wish to get into a confrontational situation, simply wait until she is away from her desk and leave the print out there.

 

[Eeyore]

I would have said something to your co-worker. "You know that's a $140.00 pen right?"

Me too.

The only person who really mishandled a vintage(!) pen of mine was an American woman, who then claimed that my "old fashioned" pen was at fault ... it still hurts to think of how she stripped the threads of my Sheaffer Balance by yanking the cap off She never even apologized!

(Nothing against Americans but I do think most Europeans are more sensitive regarding pens, since many still have to use a fountain pen in school)

 

[GG1]

A guy asked me to use my pen to fill out an envelope. I looked for my TUL and didn't have it. I asked him if he new how to use a fountain pen. He actually said "what's a fountain pen?"
I was a little bit shocked that he never even heard of one, but knowing him, not too surprised.
Since I was writing with a 78g I figured I'd let him try. I explained how to use it, he tried, then just asked me to write for him as he didn't want to ruin the pen.
At least he is courteous.

 

[SIG9]

My Kaweco Sport nib is indestructible! The other pens stay in my leather pen case out of reach of curious people.

 

[andrew98]

My Kaweco Sport nib is indestructible! The other pens stay in my leather pen case out of reach of curious people.

And those nib units are easily replaced if one did get destroyed. At work, I leave a couple cheap clicky ball points near the end of the desk that faces the walkway from which everyone has to appoach. That way, if someone rushes over to scribble something, there's a familiar looking pen waiting for them.

I don't leave fountain pens unattended at work, unless they're in a pen case in my bag.

-Andy