Donot Lend Out Your Pen...that One!

[cattar]

Sad about Montblanc.

 

I let someone try my favorite waterman and they sprang the nib.

I still let people try pens with stiff nibs.

I enjoy loaning a preppy to someone who forgot a pen. Sometimes they try it.

Edited January 9, 2019 by cattar

[ethernautrix]

Coffe_Cup and I gave a sort of pen seminar at a cafe here in Wrocław a few years ago. I started off my portion of the talk by holding up a Montblanc 146 and saying that when people hear the words "fountain pen," this is what they usually think about.

 

The focus of my part of the "seminar" was Japanese pens -- urushi and maki-e. Coffe_Cup's was probably vintage and restoration.

 

ANYWAY... what I do clearly remember is passing the 146 around (Why? Maybe someone requested to see it, probably.) and watching from a short distance but longer than arm's reach as each person held the pen up to look at it before passing it along... to the guy who pulled the cap off. Aa-aaa-aaaaaagh....

 

The sound of it -- which stopped everything (or maybe everything for me stopped), and I said, "It's a screwcap." (Speaking English in Poland, of course. But the people who attended knew some English....)

 

I had to wait 'til the end of our presentation before I could retrieve the pen and check for damage. Thankfully, none.

 

I usually take the cap off before handing over pens anymore -- even around pen people.

 

Around civilians... here's a cheap ballpoint if you need to borrow a pen for a quick jot.

[OmegaMountain]

I was next to a guy on a flight back from Iceland and we has to fill out our customs cards. All I had was my titanium nib Conid and he had nothing. I gave specific instructions before I let him use it and even then was nervous he would spring the nib... Lesson learned - buy a cheap ballpoint to carry from now on in those situations.

[Restored]

That's why i carry Varsity's.

[PAKMAN]

Sorry for your loss! I know your wife felt bad.

[P25B]

Sorry to hear about the emotional experience... I hope you recover soon...

 

I never thought Id worry about lending one of my pens. I got my first CIBYP (Can I Borrow Your Pen) today.

 

After a presentation, I asked the organiser for details of those who attended...

 

Yeah, sure she said with a smile, Can i borrow your pen,

 

(Me... silently and Inwardly) Huh!!!!!! What do i do, what have I seen on FPN!!! Quick...

 

it took milliseconds to think - hmm, Im using my MB 124 that i love - important client - Architect - should know how to use a pen - ahh, uses computer - uses fibre tipped pens

 

I smoothly slipped my hand into my inner jacket pocket and retrieved my Lamy ballpoint for her (and held on tightly to my MB..)

 

Im going to be using my hard as nails P25 Stub at work in future... (that i also love, but know it can handle anything thrown at it!)

[sandy101]

These days, if necessary I hand the borrower the pen uncapped - and keep the cap in my hand.

 

This means the borrower can't get the cap wrong - and has nowhere to put the pen.

 

At one parent's evening someone was enderead with my C'dA Madison, but couldn't slip it into a pocket, as I still had the cap.

[JollyCynic]

I grew up in the States and never touched a fountain pen until I left school. Now I work in a school in the UK and practically everybody on staff used fountain pens growing up. So I enjoy lending my pens out at work, particularly to the English teachers who get a kick out of them.

 

Monday, though, a new Maths teacher dropped by my office specifically to fill out some forms. When I filled out my part and handed them back to him to sign, he locked his eyes on my new pen (an inexpensive PenBBS with a $5 nib, but one of their new Mediums I'd never tried before) as he patted down his pockets feigning to look for a pen, and he was nearly salivating. I sighed and handed it over (without cap) and quickly discovered that he was one of the few who'd never touched a fountain pen before as he turned it completely sideways. It still laid down a nice line as he (literally) scratched his signature, even as he finished it. But for some reason he wasn't satisfied with the amount of ink his nine inch long signature took, and literally pressed and started scraping the nib back and forth (still sideways) on the paper while looking confused.

 

I wordlessly yanked the pen out of his grasp and ignored him until he wandered back out of my office (without an apology, but he might have thought I was the rude one ... I never understand how manners work over here) as I re-aligned the nib. It took about half a minute just to get it writing again, but it's fine now. I already had a replacement nib on the way, so I wasn't really concerned at any point, but was highly amused by his antics. (At least I was after the nib's proper function was restored.)

 

I'll still loan out fountain pens, but I'll also take every chance to tease him every time somebody hands him something.

[Arkanabar]

I only hand over a fountain pen without the cap. No reasonable person will put an uncapped pen into their own pockets. If they do, they deserve the ink stain they get.

And it also typically comes with a little lecture -- "This isn't what you're used to in a pen, it's a controlled leak. Hold it with the quill on top, and use the least amount of pressure you can."

If I start carrying my copper Estie SJ with the medium manifold nib, I would feel quite a bit more secure. It's really wet, but that medium manifold nib is just a bit stubby, so I love it. I just have to find a sufficiently dry ink to limit flow and feathering.

[Noihvo]

[phonelady61]

never ever would I loan a fountain pen considering I had a party and some guest walked off with my dads parker 51 and it is my fault for not locking the office and my desk at the same time . whenever someone comes to my home and I have to go into the office they ooh and ahh over my curio full of fountain pen inks . thenthey ask why so many inks ? I never answer the question . But I do miss my dads parker 51 . He passed six years ago and a long wool coat and the parker 51 were the only things I had left of his . I still have the coat .

[Lomi]

never ever would I loan a fountain pen considering I had a party and some guest walked off with my dads parker 51 and it is my fault for not locking the office and my desk at the same time . whenever someone comes to my home and I have to go into the office they ooh and ahh over my curio full of fountain pen inks . thenthey ask why so many inks ? I never answer the question . But I do miss my dads parker 51 . He passed six years ago and a long wool coat and the parker 51 were the only things I had left of his . I still have the coat .

my gosh, this is straight up stealing, sorry for your loss, and the one who walked with it probably thought he win the lottery and gonna sell it for millions by stealing this pen, because thats how i think most non fountain pen users think about any fountain pen when they see one, like: "oh it's fountain pen! it must cost a million then, lets just steal and walk away with it like nothing happened" (not trying to say that everyone is thief but if we talk about those individuals only i think what i said before is pretty close to what they are thinking)

Edited January 9, 2019 by Lomarion

[Bo Bo Olson]

People will steal anything (magpie blood).........I got my first fountain pen in 4th grade and every year it was stolen till 10th when I stopped using the super expensive cartridge pens. Going over to Bic or any other 'cheap' ball point.................thee was a time when there were no free ball points!!!!

Had I enough money to engrave my name on any of them, I might still have them. Same with the Jotter....but the Bic came in then. Had a Jotter a year stolen too....

The Jotters I do have, were bought in my '20's.

 

The best deal I had was getting ten skinny regular refills for a dime (8th-9th grade in the early '60s)....a years worth of ink. That was not a normal buy, in those single skinny refills normally cost much more.

[sansenri]

good grief, it must have been a horrible sound...

 

the "may I borrow" thing happened to me in a meeting with my boss and clients a while ago... (my boss is 10 years younger than me...)

we are sitting on a small table and he's presenting a product, then suddenly wants to write something on a notepad in front of him and does not have a pen,

he does not even ask, looks at me and at the capped pen in my hand.

I did feel distressed for a moment, but quickly recovered, unscrewed the cap and handed to him the uncapped pen, with a moderate smile

he looks at the nib and at me in horror for a moment ( ) but needs to write, picks it up and manages reasonably

but for the whole while he is writing his tone of voice is different, worried

the clients noticed...

I admit it was worth it actually

[Honeybadgers]

I think the easy solution is "know your audience"

 

Maybe it's because I'm a paramedic and I see just how stupid people can be (seen a broken arm caused by high-fiving a friend, someone drinking nearly a gallon of Purell hand sanitizer, kids eat tide pods, using nasal spray accidentally instead of eye drops... the list goes on) but I just have a very specific set of simple, easily understood things when I hand someone a pen.

 

Rando: "is that a fountain pen."

 

Me: "yep, wanna try it?"

 

Rando: "YES"

 

Me: "the cap unscrews/pulls off. Be gentle, don't press down on the page."

 

Never had a problem.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

I've lent fountain pens to friends who wanted to learn about them and would listen to instructions. They're off limits to people who just need something to write with and can't be bothered to carry their own writing instruments. But although I'm not a pen caddy for the improvident, there are plenty of situations where it seems reasonable to lend something, and I almost always have my little Fisher Space Pen in a pants pocket.

 

But I value my ballpoints, too, even though I rarely use them. I once lent the Fisher to a coworker, nice guy, but not very pen aware. He started thinking deep thoughts, and assisted meditation by rhythmically banging the point of the pen against the table. I said "hey!" and he handed it back. No damage to the pen, as I recall, just another example of how people abuse them without a thought. Imagine if I'd lent him my Parker Vacumatic.

[Honeybadgers]

if it's a situation where someone just needs a pen, they often don't want my damn FP anyways. I keep three pens on my at work - my delike alpha 14k for personal use, a sharpie for writing vitals or triage status on patients skin, and a fisher AG-7 for when a nurse or doctor needs a pen so I can give report.

[Maurizio]

I usually carry a Parker Jotter in my briefcase to lend when asked. Mine is missing, probably not returned by the last person I lent it to. I will get another soon but even the price of those has gone up absurdly.

 

Other day I was in court for a routine conference. 3 attorneys conferencing with the judges law secretary - nothing glamorous at all. The Court likes us to sign the conference sheet which is their record of who was present. We are sitting at a conference table elbow to elbow facing the law secretary. Lawyer to my right, a gentleman at least 60 and the boss of his firm, had apparently come to court without ANY writing tool. We are all congenial and he asks me to borrow my pen. All I had with me that day was one of my Pilot Vanishing Point with a fine nib. No way I was going to hand that to anyone. I said I am sorry but this is a fountain pen and I can not lend it. I am sure he was puzzled and thought I was was being a jerk. I really didnt care. The lawyer to my left then graciously lends him the one he was holding, a cheapie it looks like he got from a bank.

 

No way I am going to hand over one of my babies for 60 seconds of convenience to a guy who did not bother to bring any sort of writing tool to court. But even if he had, and it had suddenly stopped working, I wouldnt have handed my pen over. Got to replace my Jotter soon. I just can not stand carrying a cheaper ballpoint like one of those miserable stick pens which give me agita just by seeing some other lawyer using one.

Edited January 10, 2019 by Maurizio

[thx1138]

if it's a situation where someone just needs a pen, they often don't want my damn FP anyways. I keep three pens on my at work - my delike alpha 14k for personal use, a sharpie for writing vitals or triage status on patients skin, and a fisher AG-7 for when a nurse or doctor needs a pen so I can give report.

 

I carry a couple of cheap papermate inkjoy ballpoints on shift, and a rotring 600 BP with a parker refill which writes nicely on the back of nitrile gloves. My favourite refill the easyflow 6000 smudges too much on gloves. I get a lot of comments on the Rotring 600 (have silver and black versions) but I would almost never hand that to someone else to use.

 

The couple of cheap pens are for my shift partner when they have lost or forgotten their pens. Our casesheets are on an ipad so not too much writing to do, mainly obs, pmhx and immediate stuff like that.

[torstar]

Sigh......how she can misjudge someone.............who didn't look that foolish in real life.

 

A thousand stories of why one needs a ball point pen with one always................

 

And the fool didn't even notice he did something wrong??? No puzzled look at you clutching your heart.....or asking why the tears?

 

take the high road always....

 

this doesn't pay off in gold coins necessarily...