Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Why the fuck do people steal pens!?

141 replies

lucysmam · 10/10/2018 08:06

It does my fucking nut in!

I go to work with two...often come home with one & end up chasing it down to someone in First Aid the next day who is happily using it.

I take a flamin' pencil case to Rainbows and Guides so I have everything I might want. One of my other leaders literally brings herself...every week...borrows a pen...and makes it disappear ffs...& then when I ask about it says "oh yes, so I have" but they never re-appear.

I'm down to one pen now.

& yes, I know they're cheap as chips, but ffs BUY YOUR OWN BLOODY PENS! I buy the ones I buy specifically because I struggle to write with some shapes of pen (circular ones in particular I'm a fussy fucker)

OP posts:
Chanelprincess · 10/10/2018 11:58

Use a fountain pen. No one will nick it and if they try just say no because it’s moulded to my handwriting and you’ll wreck it so sorry.

Completely agree. I'm very particular about my pen nibs and I'm happy let anyone know that. No one is allowed to use my fountain pens. Ever.

dinkydonky · 10/10/2018 12:25

I have a billion pens at work/home because we always seem to acquire free promo ones, but I'm also shameless about asking for them back if I lend one out when out and about. I have one in my handbag because it's useful, so damn right I'm gonna look petty asking for it back so that I continue to have it when I need it.

Dontfeellikeamillenial · 10/10/2018 12:26

They don't. They accidentally take them.

MiddlingMum · 10/10/2018 12:31

Unless it's a special one, I don't think it matters. They just circulate around the system. Someone will take one you've used, you use one from somewhere else and round they go again.

ARandomPoster · 10/10/2018 12:39

There are companies who sell personalised stationery.

Buy a pack of pens and a container for them to keep at rainbows (use an old yogurt pot if necessary and fill with cheap biros). Keep your pen in your pocket and only you use it. If someone asks to borrow it point them in the direction of the pen pot.

I once bought a pen on a long plastic spring with a key ring on the end. It attached to my belt loop and No one could remove it.

Pens are like socks. They run away the moment our backs are turned.

Bluelonerose · 10/10/2018 12:45

We have a pen stealer in our house. I leave thousands in the drawer next to the calendar in the kitchen. Do you think there is EVER one in there when I need to write something down NO.
WHERE ARE THEY ALL??

I swear I could build a 3 storey house and conservatory with the amount of MY pens that go missing AngryAngry

Bluelonerose · 10/10/2018 12:45

Wow sorry didn't realise it pissed me off so much BlushGrin

PeppaP · 10/10/2018 12:53

Pauline?

Why the fuck do people steal pens!?
ShadyFriendandLadyLoofah · 10/10/2018 12:54

Nothing to add except I read ‘pens’ as ‘penis’ and wondered HOW indeed one stole penis...... Blush

Tragedy · 10/10/2018 12:55

I steal pens. It's a hobby.

ProfessorMoody · 10/10/2018 13:01

I'm really particular about pens and only use a certain brand and thickness. It's also common knowledge that I won't share them, as they always go missing.

My TA now makes it her mission to steal any that I leave unattended, then licks them in front of me so I won't want it back Grin

Still working on what revenge I should take.

MrDonut · 10/10/2018 13:03

A friend of mine was ranting on Facebook about how she had forgotten her pencil case at home, so she asked a coworker if she could borrow his pen. He just looked at her and said, "No, that's my pen."

It made me laugh for some reason. I know a lot of people who BuJo and spend a small fortune on pens.

LimitIsUp · 10/10/2018 13:08

I buy a box of 10 pens for my ds at the start of term and they have generally all gone by half term 😬

BertieBotts · 10/10/2018 13:08

I do this. Sorry. I just walk off with it and don't realise it's in my hand. I can never find one when I need one either. Confused

I did note a particularly amusing one the other day - I took my baby to the paediatrician and the receptionist handed me a pen to sign a data protection agreement - the pen was a freebie one from Tobaccoland!

headinhands · 10/10/2018 13:16

My TA now makes it her mission to steal any that I leave unattended, then licks them in front of me so I won't want it back

Ahh. Brings back warm memories of me and the teacher trying to out-prank each other. One time I told him that while he's nipped out to the loo the head had just popped in to say that the HT and maths lead of a nearby outstanding school would be popping in to observe during the next lesson. 😂 His face!!

TheNoodlesIncident · 10/10/2018 13:18

It drives you mad when you need a pen and can't find one, doesn't it? I've got one attached physically to the calendar now, so it can't be taken away. There's also pots of pens (and scissors) in every room* of my house, together with paper pads.

And yet sometimes I do struggle to find a pen, so have to walk to use the calendar's. My system has gone wrong somewhere...

*Not the bathroom. That would be weird.

Frogletmamma · 10/10/2018 13:23

DD likes the frixxion ones but keeps handing them out to people at school. If she wants more before February they will be coming out of pocket money.

At work I cannot keep hold of pens so I am a donor. I am definately a paperclip accumulator though-have 100's in my desk.

ProfessorMoody · 10/10/2018 13:26

@headinhands A TA you can pull crap like that with is invaluable Grin Mine has done things like that on many occasion, she's bloody brilliant.

TaliZorahVasNormandy · 10/10/2018 13:36

I do a lot of writing as a hobby. I have a small selections of pens I like to use (About 3) I get right stabby when people take them.

They are Bic Cristal 1.6mm pens in blue, pink and purple. Lovely to write with. So I dont wanna lose them.

paap1975 · 10/10/2018 13:57

Just say "sorry, but people never give them back, so I'm not lending them any more"

petitdonkey · 10/10/2018 14:00

I'm a teacher and last week a teacher was in a massive flap as she had lost a very precious Mont Blanc fountain pen!! Found it after 9 days - a child had borrowed it from her desk and was merrily using it!!! I suggested she doesn't leave it in school!

LemonysSnicket · 10/10/2018 14:02

It's the pen life cycle. We use them so often that we don't really take note of pens and so they're accidentally pocketed because they're not seen as something of particular value or importance.

whathaveiforgottentoday · 10/10/2018 14:03

'What comes around goes around ' and 'finders keepers losers weepers' applies to pens

I am a pen thief but probably lose more pens than I gain.
I regularly put pens into the circuit but pens left in my room become mine (unless very special pens then I might try and reunite from the owners)

LemonysSnicket · 10/10/2018 14:04

Then again there are innumerable pens at my work in massive pots that anyone can take so maybe that's why I'm not mad

Mugglemom · 10/10/2018 14:05

I wouldn't take a pen I loved to work, but then again I don't have a pen I love, because I'm an adult.

I have a few because I'm 8.