to the lady with the pen on flight 6053
Hey, I don't know who you are and I can't imagine you'll ever read this random Missed Connection ad in the vast classifieds that is the internet, but the thing with your pen has been driving me crazy. I mean, I have a laptop, which is expensive and which I rely on for a lot of things (which is one of the reasons I often don't have a pen on me). That doesn't stop me from letting other people use it, even perfect strangers, as long as I'm reasonably sure they won't steal it, or break it, or read my email. Sometimes I'm nervous when someone is using my laptop but that doesn't stop me from lending it, or being glad I can help with the loan.
You, apparently, have one amazingly fancy and special pen. So much so that you can't lend it to a person sitting next to you on an airplane. I didn't ask why it's so special, but it's fun to speculate -- solid gold? Contains your mother's ashes? Built in james bond spy cam? Whatever.
Here's the thing that blows my mind. You've saddled yourself with this thing, and by doing so you've restricted yourself, you've cut yourself off from a simple friendly thing like lending a minor possession to someone. Which is really more important, owning this object, or being able to use it in all the ways I can use a 10 cent Bic?
Call me dangerously naive, but I totally don't understand this, and I can't grasp the mindset that would consider that a worthwhile tradeoff, and like I said it's been making me a little crazy from time to time trying to get inside your head.
Anyway, if I ever run into you again, I'd be happy to lend you a spare pen for strangers.