What Do You Do When People Ask To Borrow Your Pen?

[landonsjohnson]

Thought I'd start a topic once.

 

Seems every week or so someone asks to borrow (or reaches for) the pen in my pocket or my hand and I have to figure out how to say 'no' without looking like a pompous ass. How do you all handle it?

 

It has been quite awkward on some occasions; once costing me a job!

 

I came back to my desk once to see that my boss had gone into my desk drawer, pulled out my Pelikan 200 and was leaving me a note, holding the FP backwards (unspringing the nib). I sort of freaked out and let him have it and that, as they say, was that!

 

Have you had any bad pen lending/borrowing events?

 

 

[emstardeluxe]

I hand them a jinhao or baoer (I always have a few kicking around) and say "here, this one is easier to write with"

[hh1990]

I've never had a nib ruined, but now I carry a rollerball will me in case somebody needs a pen.

[ParkerDuofold]

I act like I'm gonna hand them the pen and then cough or sneeze on it. Then I apologetically smile and say, "oh, well, you don't want it now. Sorry."

 

That one works like a charm.

 

- Anthony

[Guardy]

I'm a lucky (bleep) - not only are most of my pens in the sub-20€ range, but I also live in Germany, which means that everybody I know has written with a fountain pen as a kid, at the very least, and knows how to use them. In fact, I'm always extremely happy about lending my pens to other people, because there's a pretty good chance that they'll either never touch a ballpoint pen again or, if they're using pens already, are inspired to experiment with other brands or nib widths.

 

I do have to warn people about peculiar caps a lot, though - from the Lamy AL-Star (careful, or it'll just fall right off) and the Pelikan Twist (uh, yeah. The cap's on that end...) to almost all Jinhaos (open 'em with one hand or you'll get ink everywhere) and the Jinhao 159 and other assorted ones (Screw cap, lol). I'll really have to get my hands on a Pilot Vanishing Point, just to screw with people.

 

There's only one pen that I usually don't hand to other people (minus my best friend, who has a feather-light touch and can use all the pens she wants) and that is my Geha Schulfüller, because the nib's a bit difficult.

Edited January 16, 2017 by Guardy

[jar]

Smile and immediately give them a short course on fountain pens and then uncap it and let them give it a try.

[ParkerDuofold]

Smile and immediately give them a short course on fountain pens and then uncap it and let them give it a try.

Jar, you do indeed live in a perfect world. Actually, I do this, too, when there's time, but when everyone is rushing about and there's no time for a quick lesson; I find coughing and/or sneezing on the pen is the best way to go.

 

- Anthony

[FrozenPen]

I offer them a pencil. After having a custom XXF nib on a Vanishing Point mangled by a non-FP using colleague I NEVER lend my fountain pens to non-FP users.

[Charles Rice]

I have given up on being polite about it. I shoot.

[jar]

Jar, you do indeed live in a perfect world. Actually, I do this, too, when there's time, but when everyone is rushing about and there's no time for a quick lesson; I find coughing and/or sneezing on the pen is the best way to go.

 

- Anthony

There must always be time for learning. And everything works smoother if everyone understands panics are scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9-10AM. It's amazing how many crises seem to disappear when folk understand the above.

[PaganArcher]

It depends on who the person is. My kindred won't ask after a mishap that ended in an ink stained pair of pants (Noodler's Habanero looks better on paper than fabric). Instead, I was tasked as the scribe.

 

For anyone else, I carry a rollerball. And if they happen to just reach for it without asking, I'm not above pushing their hand away. The really persistent ones discover what the meaning of "pressure point".

[LizEF]

My FPs don't get left where people can find them. I do have one normal pen in plain sight for the short-sighted people who come to my desk without their own pens. And I keep a rollerball in my pocket (though my permanent-ink FP is slowly urging me to quit carrying it).

 

My frequent co-workers have been trained (and given disposables), and the closest get to try my new pens*. If others ask, and there's time to train them, I'll let them try*, while watching carefully.

 

Also, I've learned to keep the cap - one of my trained friends tried shoving a screw-on cap on! So uncap and recap yourself and keep hold of the cap (if you let them use the pen at all).

 

*The exception is my Pilot Falcon. For that, only one person has asked, and I said it's not a normal nib, and they could not afford to replace it if they damaged it, so, no. If someone persisted, I would say, "So you're willing to commit to the $150 it would cost to replace this pen?" - I'm pretty sure that would cause their jaw to hit the floor, and then they'd say, "Uh, thanks anyway." If they persisted after that, I would insist they put the cash on the table - as far as I can tell no one but me carries that much cash. If that didn't work, I'd have to get a 2x4 to beat the clue into their head.

[Komboloi]

Depends on who it is, which pen I'm using, and where we are. If it's someone I know, I uncap it and hold it out saying, "It's a fountain pen; is that ok?" I keep the cap so I know the pen will come right back.

 

If it's someone I don't know or don't know well, I'll do that if my pen is inexpensive. But if it's a nice pen, I say something like, "This is a special pen that I don't lend out."

 

If it's in a big meeting, and some stranger says, "Hey, let me borrow your pen," I'll say something like, "I think they have some at the front." If I get a look, I'll shrug and say, "You have to come to meetings prepared."

[johnsi02]

I generally advise them that all I have is a fountain pen, but they're welcome to use it. One advantage of having nibs that are almost all steel nails is you don't worry much about someone springing it.

At least one person I've done that with is now a full time user.

JS

[Chrissy]

I would probably just say no, but I don't often take one out with me, nor do I work in an office, So I don't get asked.

[French]

I carry a Fisher Space Pen for just those times when someone asks to borrow a pen

[crescent2]

I don't carry my most beloved (my 1947 Demi 51, my Anniversary Van Gogh) pens with me. They stay at home. But I do carry some of my nicer pens at times. (None of mine are super-expensive by FPN standards.)

 

If someone wants to borrow it, I let them. I sometimes just say, "It's an old-timey type fountain pen, so don't bear down as hard." If it's a twist-on cap, I probably take the cap off for them. If they look scared to use it, I tell them to go ahead. I've not had a problem so far, but I'm retired and it's not often that someone borrows one of mine, and these aren't reckless types. I'm not really worried; if I were that worried, that pen would stay at home or at least out of sight. "Prevention is the best cure." I would feel rude and uncomfortable refusing or going through some ruse, so I avoid the need to do that.

 

If a "wild child" asked, I'd probably just say, "It breaks really easily and it's special to me, so not this one." As a retired elementary school teacher, I can usually say no to a child in ways that don't hurt his or her feelings and they accept. My grandchildren have used my pens with no problems with the "don't press down as hard" instruction.

[Studio97]

No one gets any of my pens unless they are disposable. Period. The last straw was when someone I know spotted me at a bookstore, walked up and said "need to borrow a pen" and abruptly snatched my Montblanc silver ballpoint. Nearly tore my pocket off. Could have damaged the clip. So I assume that most people don't know the value of a pen and I won't give them a chance to wreck it. I won't let someone borrow a pocket knife either. It isn't a pry bar nor a screw driver. Oh yeah..I have seen borrowed pens used to open boxes. So my best pens especially fountain pens are off limits.

Edited January 16, 2017 by Studio97

[Astronymus]

I have cheap ballpoints in reach to use them as a decoy for pesky pen borrowers. Plus a robust Lamy Pico in my pocket for emergencies.

[NinthSphere]

Ask if they want a gel, Sharpie pen, or a Sharpie because a fountain pen isn't the right tool for every job & I like to be prepared.