Pens, not Pencils

Back in middle school, pencils were the way too go as they were encouraged by teachers and mistakes could be erased, yet as one gets older you hear "you can use pens or pencils" more often. Slowly it went from just pencils on my pocket to a mix of the two. Arriving in high school though, the change to just pens occurred for me. They just seem more professional and teach the user more in my opinion. With a pen the user is aware that a mistake is permanent, you can scribble it out, but the remains are there. You could do what Ben Altman does and use white out, but 1.) the school believes white out to be a cause for students to get high so they do not allow it and 2.) it still leaves visible signs of what happened. So with pens, you have to be more confident with what you write, you have to be more aware of what you are writing. With pencils, the pencil tells the user that mistakes are allowed. Yet are they in life? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Your best bet is to avoid mistakes when you can. Yet often when one takes risks, they end up learning more.

Now not just any pen will satisfy me. Those paper mate pens? Think again. I like pens that have information on them, as it gives a brief insight into the companies, whether it be the form of font or the words written. The shinier the better; the more complicated to take apart the better. People have obsessions with clothing and other commodities, mine is with pens. I can't just pick up any old pen and use it as the pen's characteristics DO matter to me. Whether it be design or color, I will not settle for a second rate pen.

Through a logical point of view, my obsession with the style of pens is absurd. I should just use any pen as there is not much of a difference since all that really matters is the ink. Yet to me it holds value so I say forget logic. An economist might say that paper mate pens last just as long as the pens I use, have the same ink, and cost less, and with the economy as bad as it is, every cent counts. I'd just say, the pens I use are pens that I find or are given to by family so it costs me nothing. If I have it available for free, why not use it? An artist might say that the different styles of pens that I have could represent my mood or emotions. Bright red or darker colored pens might represent that I am angry or sad while yellow or light blue pens could be a cheerful mood. Just the fact that the pens I use are not just the regular bland pens shows that I am slightly outside the norm. Pens are pens, but my pens are better.