Editing The Pen Addict 615/transcript (section)

== Transition to using pens in a professional workplace ==


'''Damien Alomar:''' Yeah. So I was in a nicer workplace, uh, and I was in a lot of meetings, taking a lot of notes and my hand was cramping up and, uh, I was on Reddit and, you know, saw these suggestions for fountain pens. And so I ordered myself, uh, uh, uh, pilot metropolitan. That was my first pen. Um, and it was a great pen, you know, there's, they're, they're great first pens for people. Um, but at the same time, it also wasn't what I was looking for in a fountain pen, but it was enough to get me hooked. I don't know why, but, uh, I've been using fountain pens ever since.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Nice. So do you, do you remember what, uh, pens at, at work were making your hands cramp? Like, do you remember any specifics or probably not?

'''Damien Alomar:''' So it was, it was nicer office. So like we had like, I think like some G2 or like a doctor grip type pens. And I actually liked using them more than just, you know, a standard BIC and I had made it, I'd actually not lost one of them and I had put a couple refills in. And so that was my first barrier to like, can I get a nice pen? It's like, well, can I not lose it? Um, and so after not losing it, I'm like, okay, maybe I can actually go ahead and get something nice.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. You, you know, you're in a good office when you don't have to shop from the corporate express catalog. You get the actual brand name, uh, office supply catalog, catalog to stock the shelf.

'''Damien Alomar:''' It was, it was a very nice office. We're from the DC area. And so we actually had like views for the Capitol from our office. We were up on the top.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Nice. Nice. So did the Met, the Metropolitan work for you and it actually made you want to start looking at, at other things. So when you got the Metropolitan, did you, what did you think? Like, what do you say? Like, okay, I like this, but I kind of have like a different problem I want to solve. And that's what, that's what made you look a little bit further.

'''Damien Alomar:''' So I liked the Metropolitan, um, but the grip on the Metropolitan is a little thin. Okay. And so I still, I still kind of had a little bit of the hand cramping issues with it. And the nib I got on the Metropolitan, I can't remember if I even understood what I was ordering when I was ordering. I got a fine, which is a very nice fine line. And I, my writing size is rather large.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay.

'''Damien Alomar:''' And so the fine just did not make my handwriting look all that good. Sure. Um, but I actually, I mean, it wasn't so horrible cause I did actually buy a second one at one point. Um, but I started kind of looking around at other pens and Chinese pens. Uh, those were what I, what I kind of got into a lot very early on as well, just to try and try different things and look at different options.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So what was kind of like your, your first like step up pin? When's the, when's the first time you spent an uncomfortable amount of money on a fountain pen? That's a question I always enjoy because it's, it's usually for those of us who've been doing this for a long time, like back in the day, like $50 would have been just a mind blowing amount of money to spend on a fountain pen. And, and we just like have a panic attack. So what was that first pen for you?