You spot a Bic Cristal stick ballpoint lying on the ground in the parking lot as you're walking in to work. Do you:
a) leave it where it is
b) pick it up and bring it inside to throw away
c) pick it up and bring it in to use--might as well
d) pick it up, bring it in, gloat mightily over having a FREE PEN(!!!) and use it all day to the exclusion of all other pens, even though you don't even really like ballpoints, and it's a skinny cheap little ballpoint at that
If the answer is d, you probably aren't right in the head...but at least it means I'm not alone.
10 comments:
I'm somewhere between C and D. Those happen to be my pen of choice (with the exception of my 'bullet' Space Pens, which are easily slipped into my pocket and which never fail, ever) and are cheap, reliable, ubiquitous, and completely underrated (possibly because of their ubiquity...ubiquitousnuess...).
I have one of those bullet pens, too. It wouldn't be my choice for marathon writing sessions (that's my main quibble with ballpoint pens in general--my hand cramps up after a few pages), but *nothing* beats it as a pocket pen. Fits nicely into tiny mandolin case accessory compartments, too. I'm sure Fisher extensively tested that particular feature...
I added "Space Pen" to my Xmas Wish List about a month ago. My wife always likes little stocking stuffer ideas.
I'd probably have left it, but regretted not picking it up about four hours later.
Yeaaaah...I'd have left it.
Why?
Germs. People have a disgusting tendency to insert pens into their orifices.
I know, I know. It's a little Howard Hughes-y, but I'm comfortable with my own lunacy.
Eh, that's what Clorox wipes are for.
Granted, two Clorox wipes probably cost as much as the pen itself is worth, but logic is not really a part of this equation.
I do this with good pencils. I have quite the collection of partially-used, teeth mark laden, half-gone graphite wonders and I love using them.
I'd augment option A by stepping on it to drive it as far as possible from human sight and knowledge. It's a pubic service, like zombie decapitation.
Yes, I'm one of those fountain pen people.
Aw, now. I'm a fountain pen type, too (my favorite at the moment is a Lamy 2000, currently inked with Noodler's Aircorp Blue-Black), but ballpoints have their place and deserve some love. Especially poor piteous orphaned ballpoints.
I have a soft spot for these clear Bics in particular. Mom used to keep bunches of them around, especially the blue ones (they're likely what she used to write to me daily when I was in boot camp), and in high school I favored them because you could temporarily yank out the ink cartridge, usually using your teeth (sorry, Speegle...) and reinsert it with a scrap of paper with your name on it, thus (in theory) preventing the pen from going astray. I used to color the paper with a highlighter, so I could instantly spot my pens with their brightly colored innards if anyone took one.
Actually, I guess I'd have to grudgingly agree with Speegs on this one. I'm something of a germ phobe, too. Ballpoints do have a tendency to end up in mouths.
I guess I'd leave it, but it would haunt me for months.
I think this Bic shall hereafter be dubbed The Plague Pen. Maybe I could even write a short story with it and about it.
Seriously, though, especially if I don't stick the thing in my own mouth, I think I come in contact with a lot more potent sources of germs in the course of my typical day than a pen with no visible teeth marks, made of a hard plastic that's easy to wash. For example: every single door knob, every hand-rail, every chair, every table, coughing co-workers, snacks left in the break room, grocery carts...you get the idea. I'm grossed out by public water fountains and such like, but pens? I'll take my chances.
But I guess mebbe I'm just a nasty creature.
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