Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Coronavirus means free pens?

  1. #1
    Senior Member Kaputnik's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    By the long tidal river.
    Posts
    1,043
    Thanks
    2,713
    Thanked 2,570 Times in 695 Posts
    Rep Power
    14

    Default Coronavirus means free pens?

    Another COVID-19 related thread may try people's patience, but I find interesting how this situation has changed our lives. Not just the big things, but the little ones, things that make sense when you think about them, but which probably wouldn't occur to you ahead of time.

    I had an appointment with an endodontist today. Nothing serious, he was just checking on some work he did last year to make sure that the teeth were holding up okay (they were). After calling in from the parking lot, masking, knocking on the locked door to be let in, and saying hello, I was asked to fill out a form. The receptionist handed me a clicky ballpoint with it, and told me to keep the pen.

    Well, since this was simply a matter of putting a checkmark by "no" on a number of questions ("do you have a fever? Have you tested positive for...") and then signing the sheet, there was no need to harrumph and insist on taking out my Pilot Custom Heritage 92 instead. The ballpoint wrote adequately for its minor task. When I go back to work, I'll bring it in and leave it in the communal pen cup we keep in the technical operations area.

    It's the reason for "keep the pen" that's a sign of the times. When I mentioned it to the receptionist, she said that they'd decided it would be too much trouble always to be disinfecting the pens before letting another patient use them. And although there was advertising for this endodontic practice on it, they didn't have a cup of them sitting there, but handed them out one at a time. Maybe I should wipe the pen down with hand sanitizer before leaving it in that communal cup at work.

    I suppose this might be a boon for people who only use ballpoints, but never buy one, depending on free handouts from businesses. But there were enough of those in the old days for people who looked for them, and I expect we'd all rather be back to normal.
    "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
    G.K. Chesterton

  2. #2
    agrissol
    Guest

    Default Re: Coronavirus means free pens?

    For me, it's time to reassess the values of my life. I've started to evaluate some of the things that surround me.

  3. The Following User Says Thank You to agrissol For This Useful Post:

    Detman101 (September 4th, 2020)

  4. #3
    Senior Member Detman101's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2020
    Location
    Lost...help.
    Posts
    718
    Thanks
    1,566
    Thanked 590 Times in 294 Posts
    Rep Power
    4

    Default Re: Coronavirus means free pens?

    That same reassessment was what led me to being more comfortable with fountain pens and their inherent eco-friendliness.

  5. #4
    Senior Member Cyril's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Posts
    844
    Thanks
    1,903
    Thanked 556 Times in 290 Posts
    Rep Power
    7

    Default Re: Coronavirus means free pens?

    "Corona Virus "
    ..... means free thinking and using the freewill find the self-worth, be a " black sheep " and go away from the heard.
    Put every word on the paper and empty the MONKY MIND OF LISTENING TO OTHERS AND BUYING OTHERS IDEA AND WASTING THE LIFE. Too much has been said about our heath as we ourself didnot knew what heath was and always depended on some one else called a doctor to know about how get things around . So that's why we are here whare we are..

  6. #5
    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Carlisle, Pennsylvania USA
    Posts
    4,907
    Thanks
    1,396
    Thanked 6,390 Times in 2,505 Posts
    Rep Power
    18

    Default Re: Coronavirus means free pens?

    Quote Originally Posted by Kaputnik View Post
    Coronavirus means free pens?
    Yes. At the supermarket-based pharmacy when getting flu shots, we were handed "Wegmans Pharmacy" genuine Bic pens to complete forms, then told to keep them or deposit them in the trash bin. We kept them. I know in a few years they'll be worth many times what we paid when posted in the FPGeeks classifieds.

  7. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to FredRydr For This Useful Post:

    Ole Juul (September 19th, 2020), TSherbs (September 19th, 2020)

  8. #6
    Senior Member SIR's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    GB
    Posts
    1,635
    Thanks
    725
    Thanked 732 Times in 466 Posts
    Rep Power
    10

    Default Re: Coronavirus means free pens?

    "too much trouble always to be disinfecting the pens"

    this, is the problem... too many people, in too many jobs, are trying to do less and less everyday...

    capitalism + profiteering = parasites.

  9. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Posts
    6,658
    Thanks
    2,027
    Thanked 2,189 Times in 1,419 Posts
    Rep Power
    18

    Default Re: Coronavirus means free pens?

    Quote Originally Posted by SIR View Post
    "too much trouble always to be disinfecting the pens"

    this, is the problem... too many people, in too many jobs, are trying to do less and less everyday...

    capitalism + profiteering = parasites.
    All humans live off the lives of other sentient beings. The noble goal is to reduce the degree of parasitism and other predatory behaviors that we engage in. But let's not pretend that we can escape it or erase it. We can't even breathe without killing organisms. And all mercantilism involves a level of parasitism: others profit off the labor of workers. It's not just capitalism.

    Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk

  10. The Following User Says Thank You to TSherbs For This Useful Post:

    SIR (September 25th, 2020)

  11. #8
    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Carlisle, Pennsylvania USA
    Posts
    4,907
    Thanks
    1,396
    Thanked 6,390 Times in 2,505 Posts
    Rep Power
    18

    Default Re: Coronavirus means free pens?

    Quote Originally Posted by SIR View Post
    "too much trouble always to be disinfecting the pens"

    this, is the problem... too many people, in too many jobs, are trying to do less and less everyday...

    capitalism + profiteering = parasites.
    Refuse to touch the offered pen. Use your own pen. Then make friends by pointing out their hypocrisy as they take the paper that you handled.

  12. The Following User Says Thank You to FredRydr For This Useful Post:

    SIR (September 25th, 2020)

  13. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    US
    Posts
    6,789
    Thanks
    642
    Thanked 897 Times in 689 Posts
    Rep Power
    11

    Default Re: Coronavirus means free pens?

    Found and read this article today. Very interesting to see the virus from its's perpective.
    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/19/o...evolution.html

  14. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Chuck Naill For This Useful Post:

    FredRydr (September 20th, 2020), Kaputnik (September 21st, 2020)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •