[Originally written by hand in my journal]
What to do when it seems there are about a zillion things to write about, but not one of them seems to make its way from <3 –> paper?
Pens seem to be safe territory. This is rather a nice pen. Was at the store recently–one of those Morning Glory-esque stationery stores that will forever remind me of high school girlfriends and generic birthday gifts. Was there on a whim to purchase an air freshener for my car. One of those things that it always seems one ought to do as a civilized Asian person but never quite made it to the top of one’s to-do list in spite of that fact.
After sifting through the store’s various fragrant offerings, I settled on a bright orange “tropical” scented cylinder and made my way to the register to pay. On my way there I passed a display of hundreds of colorful pens and pencils and quickly flashed back to the days when I would actually pay for pens. As the young Korean salesgirl rang up my purchase I strained to figure out how it was that I hadn’t paid for a pen in so long.
To be honest, I still can’t quite pinpoint how the free pen came to be such a fixture in the background of my life. A job fair here and there, random giveaways, a few hotel pens (like this one) thrown in for good measure…I honestly don’t know where else. I guess my Chinese instinct has served me well to alert me when free pens are available. Perhaps it’s become so second nature that I don’t even notice anymore.
In any case, free pens (the good ones) are the unnoticed, unsung heroes of my life. You don’t really realize they are there, but what would you do if they weren’t? Pay for pens? God, what a horrible thought. You don’t expect much (after all, they’re free), but when you find a good one you’re pleasantly surprised. It’s like having a new friend whose smooth familiar, strokes give shape to all of your best ideas and most heartfelt ponderings until the day it’s forced to retire. A good pen–one that releases just the right amount of ink and doesn’t interrupt your thought flow–is hard to find.
My new air freshener, on the other hand, is turning out to be somewhat of a disappointment. The stout, translucent, carrot-colored little guy sits neatly atop the dash of my car’s all-black interior purporting to be a beacon of freshness amidst a cluttered and musty wilderness. I’m not sure what I expected. After all, it’s doing its job well enough. The car smells like the tropical fragrance I had first sampled at the store. But maybe I don’t want to smell “tropical” all the time. Maybe the duration of a car ride in my friend’s car was as long as I could stand such sweet bliss. Maybe I just need to clean my car so it doesn’t smell both musty and tropical–a bit disconcerting. Or maybe I just prefer to smell things as they are.
PS: I have since cleaned my car, diminishing the aforementioned juxtaposition of smells. My new friend and I have agreed to disagree; we have learned to coexist, at least for now. Also, my friend Madeline sat in my car recently and alerted me that I needed to remove the plastic layer between the fragrance and the top to experience the air freshener’s full effect. Verdict still pending…
This made me smile and chuckle a little bit. It is amazing how many pens roll through our lives on their varying quality ball points. After so long using those “free” government pens, it is an eye opening and pleasant experience to come into possession of a “good” pen. I find myself jealously guarding them even though I did not pay anything for them. I will forget and leave behind my sunglasses, my watch, my lunch. All things I paid for but rarely if ever do I forget and lose track of my favorite pen.
Hehe glad you smiled
The government gives away free pens?! Where do I sign up? Is that where all our taxes are going? What kind of pen is your favorite pen?