asshole-ish thing to do, or is there something about the value of pens that I don't know about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But what was so 'extremely rude' about his denial? The way you described it sounded like he said he was sorry but no, he couldn't.

Yes, good point. He wasn't rude in his denial of the request. I just didn't see any legitimate reason for the denial of the pen to these two young men, who were not native to the country and seemed a little confused by the process, and were looking to quickly complete these forms before getting to the front of the line. It seemed unfriendly. You PPs have shown me that I was wrong to say anything, and that he obviously had his reasons.

Why do you take it upon yourself to judge the reason one person denies another person the use of a pen?

Who made you the arbiter of what's appropriate?

If you had said anything to me after I'd said no to the use of my pen, I would have said, and not politely, "It's none of your business. Please leave me alone."

Are you okay with complete strangers judging your actions?

[Anonymous]

I'm a lefty and would like to add that I love felt-tip pens and do not lend them out because righties slant differently and ruin the pens. My kids know not to use them. I also spend a lot of money on good, fine point pens and I don't want them ruined. Just another perspective.

[Anonymous]

I'm a little embarrassed for the man after you overreacted like that. Confronting him? That was too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even if it was an expensive pen, did he really think that the young men were going to break it during their 2 minutes of use while standing right next to the pen-owner?

the issue is not if the young men would purposely do harm to the pen. It is when the young men accidently drop it or something, then you're in a situation where they would probably not be able to make good on any repairs to the pen. So to keep things simple, don't loan the pen out. I wouldn't loan it out either if it was a really expensive pen.

[Anonymous]

Some people collect insanely expensive pens, like expensive cars or watches. To them, it's a valuable jewelry or treasure, definitely more than just something to write with.

[Anonymous]

I carry the pen that I inherited from my father after he died. It's a nice pen, though not likely a very pricey pen. I would not loan it out to random strangers in a line.

[Anonymous]

Well, look, obviously Pen Man is a little odd, but he wasn't rude in any way - he politely declined to lend the pen, which he is entitled to do without having to justify it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, look, obviously Pen Man is a little odd, but he wasn't rude in any way - he politely declined to lend the pen, which he is entitled to do without having to justify it.

He's not even odd! He owns a nice thing he's not comfortable sharing with strangers, how is that odd!? How many times have you had someone walk off with a pen you lent them? It happens a lot. If these people didn't know it was an expensive pen, they may have just wandered away with it or something. It is NOT ODD to not want to loan strangers your nice personal belongings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here again - even if you think I was an asshole for saying something to the man, do you think that the man was being a bit of one, too, in not allowing someone to borrow his pen under those circumstances?

NO. Let me repeat what an earlier poster said - no one is under any obligation to loan anything to anyone.

That's the Obama Society we're living in. I agree with you, our things are our things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I don't like Selfish Pen Man's behavior, I think your sense of moral outrage was way out of proportion, OP. This was no more than an eyebrow raiser and the two young men were capable of handling the situation in about 14 seconds by obtaining another pen. You didn't need to get so huffy on their behalf.

+1

[Anonymous]

He may have had other reasons for not wanting to lend the pen -- like it has sentimental value or he is OCD about germs. And stumbled with his reason for declining. Who really knows? But I agree with all the others, as long as he was polite, he's in the right here, whether any of us like his response or not.

[Anonymous]

My econ prof at Georgetown collects pens that cost thousands of dollars. I would never have asked her to borrow one of her pens.

He wasn't rude; you were.

[Anonymous]

He owns a nice thing he's not comfortable sharing with strangers, how is that odd!?

Personally, I think it is odd not to let someone else in a line use your pen for a few seconds when you are standing right there to watch and ensure that they don't take it or walk away with it, even if it is a nice or expensive pen. But that doesn't matter. It is his pen, and he has the right to do with it as he wishes. It sounds like he was perfectly polite in declining, which he was entitled to do.

[Anonymous]

I would assume he would let them borrow it if it was a Bic. You should have just offered the pen to the men and not confronted the man you thought was wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that you were being a jerk to confront him like that. It's ok to say no to some things and he had a valid reason and wasn't rude about it.

+1