Editing The Pen Addict 13/transcript (section)

== Workplace Story ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' I have a horrible story to tell you.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So there goes your pen.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, so I have a terrible story. Last week I had to sit down with an impromptu one-on-one meeting with my boss. There was some crazy stuff happening at work and he was hanging around like we were in the same place. He was like, right, I need to speak to you about something. Come sit down. And it involved a lot of writing. And I had my moleskin and I had my tornado. And he picked it up.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And I was like, oh, my God. What can I do? I can't say anything. I couldn't say anything really in that situation. And he was like, this is a nice pen. And I was like, yeah. And he's like, I haven't got one, so I'm going to have to use it. I was like, oh, my God. He's using it. And at least it wasn't a fountain pen. Because I can't let people use fountain pens of mine because it can destroy them because I'm left-handed. But I was basically for the whole 20 minutes, all I was doing was watch him write.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. And he was fascinated by the twisting mechanism. And so he kept doing that back and forth. I was like, oh, you're hurting me so much.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I know. And I've had that problem. Because before I went and worked at JetPens, I worked in a data center for 10 years. So I figured out kind of how to get around people using my stuff.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I always, when I go into work, like out of that pen cup that I just described, I grab one of those pens. And I clip it like on my shirt pocket or on my placket of my shirt. So I'm always carrying one of those pens in my shirt. And then my other pen, I'll either have it, I'll either carry two pens in my pocket. You know, I'm not going full on pocket protector nerd type of thing. But I'll either carry two pens in my chest pocket or I'll carry the pen that I use in my pocket. But I always have a second pen on me because it's going to happen. Hey, can I borrow a pen? And you're not thinking about it. And you're, you know, the last thing you want is your Safari, you know, that you've broken in so well to get in the wrong hands. You know, and I'd carry around a lot of fine tip gel ink pens. I'm like, I mean, there's no way someone's not going to destroy that pen in two strokes.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So you don't know how to use it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. So I always carry a second pen when I'm in the office just for that reason. And, you know, when I'm done at the end of the day, it may not have gotten used. And I'll just put it right back in the cup and come in tomorrow and do the same thing. I mean, these are the things that pen acts do without even thinking. I mean, I just, it's a, we have a problem. We just do. It's an addiction, right? I mean. As much as any other. You don't want people ruining your good stuff. I mean, that could go for a lot of things. And maybe it sounds, you know, pretentious. But, you know, if you're not in the pens, people just don't have any concept of the destruction they could do to something nice in the matter of a minute. So I always keep, I always keep a spare handy. And then the second way you solve that problem, Myke, is that's what you get him for Boss's Day or Christmas. Get him that one night. That happened to me one time. I let my boss, he saw how fine I was writing one time. And he's like, wow, that pen, you know, writes really small. It was a high-tech C Cavalier. And he, you know, I let him test it out a little. He's like, oh, that's pretty cool. So I got him one and just solved that problem. It's just like, be done with it and that's yours and stay away.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That means you're not, if you lose it, you're not allowed to touch mine anymore because I will be one and that's your problem.