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Old Sep 8, 2018, 9:08 am
  #93  
sethweinstein
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: NYC
Posts: 419
Of course the OP's seatmate has the right to lend or not, and explain or not, but the "Yes I do" response seems unduly harsh. "I'm sorry, but I don't lend pens because I don't always get them back" or "I'm sorry, but this pen means a lot to me so I don't like to lend it out" (unlikely the reason if it was a Bic) might have reduced the OP's surprise. I think "Do you mind if I borrow your pen?" is perfectly polite.

Seth
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