Do you mind if I borrow your pen?
Sep 30, 2018, 12:47 pm
#181
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 17,457
You are grossly wrong, and should be embarrassed.
I am such a gentleman that I travel with a Montblanc given to me by my great grandfather who died on the beaches at Normandy, and I shall not be hand it out to an amateur traveler, who is allegedly an adult and who lacks the foresight to have a writing implement on their person when traveling.
You may think a pen is a minor thing, but to many it is not.
I am such a gentleman that I travel with a Montblanc given to me by my great grandfather who died on the beaches at Normandy, and I shall not be hand it out to an amateur traveler, who is allegedly an adult and who lacks the foresight to have a writing implement on their person when traveling.
You may think a pen is a minor thing, but to many it is not.
At The Dancers they get the sort of people that disillusion you about what a lot of golfing money can do for the personality.
Sep 30, 2018, 4:41 pm
#182
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Southern California
Programs: AA EXPlat, 2.4MM; HHonors Diamond
Posts: 580
You are grossly wrong, and should be embarrassed.
I am such a gentleman that I travel with a Montblanc given to me by my great grandfather who died on the beaches at Normandy, and I shall not be hand it out to an amateur traveler, who is allegedly an adult and who lacks the foresight to have a writing implement on their person when traveling.
You may think a pen is a minor thing, but to many it is not.
I am such a gentleman that I travel with a Montblanc given to me by my great grandfather who died on the beaches at Normandy, and I shall not be hand it out to an amateur traveler, who is allegedly an adult and who lacks the foresight to have a writing implement on their person when traveling.
You may think a pen is a minor thing, but to many it is not.
"I am going to start carrying a pen without ink around, just to teach these fools a lesson in how to travel."
Such a gentleman.
Sep 30, 2018, 4:47 pm
#183
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Southern California
Programs: AA EXPlat, 2.4MM; HHonors Diamond
Posts: 580
Sep 30, 2018, 7:50 pm
#184
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: GIG - YYC - SVO
Programs: Lost it all and don't care
Posts: 945
How do prunes fit into this thread ?
Sep 30, 2018, 8:59 pm
#185
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Hilton, Hyatt House, Del Taco
Posts: 5,378
Sorry I'm late to this party, and I've read some of the posts but not all.
On one hand, the OP's neighbor was socially awkward in outright saying no to the request without at least following up with one or two sentences to explain why ("sorry, I've lost too many pens this way and this is my only one").
On the other hand, OP should never take for granted that what seems like a simple favor to him is not inconveniencing to someone else.
In the world that I live in, if you lend a pen to someone, there's a 1/4 chance you won't get it back unless you go back and remind him/her. And when you do that, there's a 1/3 chance that that person will display some type of body language or tone that makes it obvious he/she is wondering how petty I am to go so far as to demand back a mere pen. So then it makes you feel like a jerk. If it's a gel pen, there's a 20% chance that the person will treat it with reckless force as if it's a bad ballpoint pen and thus it ends up making you wonder if the pen tip is still okay. In such situation, there's a 1/3 chance that the pen you get back will indeed never write the same.
I don't carry around a Mont Blanc, but a $1.50 gel pain is still nice and I usually only have one pen on me. If someone asks, I will lend it every time. But not enthusiastically, if it's to a stranger. I know that many others feel the same way deep down. So whenever you have to ask a stranger for favor, always recognize that you're potentially inconveniencing the other person. Don't take things for granted.
On one hand, the OP's neighbor was socially awkward in outright saying no to the request without at least following up with one or two sentences to explain why ("sorry, I've lost too many pens this way and this is my only one").
On the other hand, OP should never take for granted that what seems like a simple favor to him is not inconveniencing to someone else.
In the world that I live in, if you lend a pen to someone, there's a 1/4 chance you won't get it back unless you go back and remind him/her. And when you do that, there's a 1/3 chance that that person will display some type of body language or tone that makes it obvious he/she is wondering how petty I am to go so far as to demand back a mere pen. So then it makes you feel like a jerk. If it's a gel pen, there's a 20% chance that the person will treat it with reckless force as if it's a bad ballpoint pen and thus it ends up making you wonder if the pen tip is still okay. In such situation, there's a 1/3 chance that the pen you get back will indeed never write the same.
I don't carry around a Mont Blanc, but a $1.50 gel pain is still nice and I usually only have one pen on me. If someone asks, I will lend it every time. But not enthusiastically, if it's to a stranger. I know that many others feel the same way deep down. So whenever you have to ask a stranger for favor, always recognize that you're potentially inconveniencing the other person. Don't take things for granted.
Oct 1, 2018, 9:55 am
#186
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 1,808
A gentlemen doesn't suffer fools and punishes impudence.
Oct 1, 2018, 11:51 am
#187
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Southern California
Programs: AA EXPlat, 2.4MM; HHonors Diamond
Posts: 580
You and I have different definitions of gentleman. I prefer this one:
“A gentleman by definition is a man who makes everyone around him feel comfortable. Arrogance whom would only think of himself without considering the needs of others is the opposite of a gentleman."
― Oliver Oyanadel, The Fruit of the Knowledge of Good & Evil
“A gentleman by definition is a man who makes everyone around him feel comfortable. Arrogance whom would only think of himself without considering the needs of others is the opposite of a gentleman."
― Oliver Oyanadel, The Fruit of the Knowledge of Good & Evil
Oct 1, 2018, 12:48 pm
#188
Moderator: SAS
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: BLL & CPH & ZRH
Programs: LX, SK EBD (*G)
Posts: 3,153
You are grossly wrong, and should be embarrassed.
I am such a gentleman that I travel with a Montblanc given to me by my great grandfather who died on the beaches at Normandy, and I shall not be hand it out to an amateur traveler, who is allegedly an adult and who lacks the foresight to have a writing implement on their person when traveling.
You may think a pen is a minor thing, but to many it is not.
I am such a gentleman that I travel with a Montblanc given to me by my great grandfather who died on the beaches at Normandy, and I shall not be hand it out to an amateur traveler, who is allegedly an adult and who lacks the foresight to have a writing implement on their person when traveling.
You may think a pen is a minor thing, but to many it is not.
Originally Posted by Robert Smith Surtees
The only infallible rule we know is, that the man who is always talking about being a gentleman never is one.
Originally Posted by Richard Heber
No gentleman can be without three copies of a book: one for show, one for use, and one for borrowers.
Oct 2, 2018, 8:37 am
#189
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Peoria
Programs: Southwest, Best Western Gold, La Quinta, Dollar
Posts: 819
You people still fill out forms? With PENS? How quaint! Can't this all be done with a tap on your phone?
What's next? Paper boarding passes? A pocket full of cash? A buggy whip for your horse?
What's next? Paper boarding passes? A pocket full of cash? A buggy whip for your horse?
Oct 2, 2018, 8:16 pm
#190
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2004
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Posts: 12,159
As a factual matter, the borrowing of a very expensive, easily-damaged pen is far from a trivial matter.
Oct 2, 2018, 8:17 pm
#191
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Oct 2, 2018, 8:43 pm
#192
Moderator: Delta SkyMiles, Luxury Hotels, TravelBuzz! and Italy
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 26,543
Time to end this conversation.
Obscure2k
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Obscure2k
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