Down with the pen system
Saturday, 28 February, 2004
Unlike Ben, I don't believe in partaking of the pen system. The pen system, for those who aren't aware, consists of a body of randomly-distributed pens of all shapes and colours which is added to and subtracted from by users of the system who feed it by losing/lending pens and partake of it by finding/borrowing pens. I think the pen system should be destroyed because it fosters dependency, disregard for property (I once lent a pen to a guy who just walked away with it in the library and never gave it back) and a lack of appreciation for the instruments. Perhaps I only feel this way because pens are, in a sense, the tools of my trade. So when I use them, I expect them to be able to function in a particular way to achieve the desired marks, translating my thoughts to page. And, perhaps, this is why I have developed a certain fondness for particular types of pens. For illustrating cards, I use Pentel Hybrids; for journal-writing (and work), I prefer to use Pilot 0.5 mm V-balls (blue or black); and for writing letters in little blank books that I occasionally buy for this purpose, I like using the kind of pens that you can buy from certain Asian gift/book shops—the ones with lovely slim barrels and long thin nibs which write at 0.25 mm in fluid black ink (like Staedtler cool rollers only thinner). My writing appears much more legible using thinner pens ... I suspect they are far more elegant too but that just might be my vanity speaking. Ben, on the other hand, is attracted to pens for their cheapness. So last month he bought 200 pens for $15 from Woolworths and gave 100 to the So-'n-So's as an anniversary present. These pens are nasty Artrite blue biros that do not always fulfill their function but they somehow make their way into the pen system never to be seen again. (Sometimes I think Ben deliberately feeds the pen system.) I do not believe that he has ever gone through all the ink of one pen and that, to me, seems like an awful waste. So I guess this is why I loathe lending out pens. I once bought a pen specifically for lending purposes and someone broke the bit at the top that you can use to hook pens onto paper. It now lives out the rest of its crippled existence in the glovebox of our car. Lending out pens is not the same as lending out books or CDs or DVDs; a pen is regarded as unimportant and trivial and not an asset worth having and therefore it doesn't matter if you accidentally make off with one belonging to someone else, or you break it, or you lose it. Such shameful attitudes must end ... along with the pen system.Posted in:
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I had a similar experience where I lent my pen to a stranger in the State Library who was in the cubicle next to me. I looked up from my studies and he was gone!
I have to admit, I find it very hard to keep track of pens. I like my black pens to have really dark ink, none of that faint pathetic stuff for me. I prefer thin lines too - you can fit more in!
I like ink-y pens except they take too long to dry (and I smudge them too often) and the ink goes through the page.
One thing we can guarantee, sin infects everything, even pen systems.
Too true!
But…but…it’s just a pen...
(Disclaimer: I, too, can become fond of certain pens/pencils/pacers/erasers, so this is likely a very hypocritical attitude from me)
Christians should seek integrity in all things. This includes looking after one’s, and returning others’, pens. Down with the pen system!
It’s true, writing with a lovely instrument is a pleasure. I like scratching at the page with a good pacer, especially the nice thin ones you can get from Asian novelty shops like Morning Glory.
Yes, those are the kinds of shops! I forgot the name of one of the chains. We have a Morning Glory in Sydney too.
I think we need go no further than Acts 4:32 to be sure that God is in favour of the pen system: “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.”
Believers, believers, Ben. Not complete strangers in the State Library!
There is a pen black hole. It’s simple. It’s where all pens go and it’s located in one of our counsellors office drawers, but it moves around. We go through 100’s and I do mean 100’s of pens a year and you can’t tell me that they’re all used up, because frankly it ain’t the case.
There’s another black hole located in my flatmate’s bedroom and all pens mysteriously make their way there in our house…
Thanks for the tip-off with good pen types. I too am a connoisseur being a professional designer.
I’ve had problems with missing pens since at least grade 4, when my teacher tried to rectify the problem by engraving my name in a couple.