# Why Am I Such A Pen Thief? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 13, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384 "2012-01-13T13:18:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BeaMyra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BeaMyra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeaMyra)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/1 "2012-01-13T13:18:41Z")
I was cleaning out my desk, and I can’t believe all the pens I stole. I have pens from hotels, banks, offices, computer stores, I have pens from where I worked in 1992. Every where I go I seem to take pens. Anyone else have this bad habit? ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/2 "2012-01-13T13:41:05Z")
Maybe you should just biro them. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/3 "2012-01-13T16:53:14Z")
They expect the pens to be taken. That’s why the pens have advertising on them. Most places will give them to you if you ask, so the real question is why are you “stealing” them instead of asking. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/4 "2012-01-13T17:01:55Z")
You are not alone. [Czech president](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uToMvq3yw2A) does it too. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/5 "2012-01-13T17:13:36Z")
Back when I worked in a laboratory, I kept my pens in my labcoat pocket. I’d often need to write something down, and the set-up of the lab was such that other people might be working near me, such that their pens were next to my work/notebook. I’d grab the nearest pen, write something down, then drop it into my pocket. At the end of the day, I’d go from having 2 pens to maybe having 15. I always felt terrible, but my coworkers all had the same habit too, so it wasn’t too bad. Most of us labelled our pens and desk supplies somehow, so there was an end-of-the-day ritual of returning whatever it was we’d inadvertently stolen to each person. It was kind of a weird way to ensure that you had a chat with nearly everyone once a day, though. That was kind of an upside! ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/6 "2012-01-13T17:21:09Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > Back when I worked in a laboratory, I kept my pens in my labcoat pocket. I’d often need to write something down, and the set-up of the lab was such that other people might be working near me, such that their pens were next to my work/notebook. I’d grab the nearest pen, write something down, then drop it into my pocket. At the end of the day, I’d go from having 2 pens to maybe having 15. I always felt terrible, but my coworkers all had the same habit too, so it wasn’t too bad. Most of us labelled our pens and desk supplies somehow, so there was an end-of-the-day ritual of returning whatever it was we’d inadvertently stolen to each person. > > It was kind of a weird way to ensure that you had a chat with nearly everyone once a day, though. That was kind of an upside! I second this. I used to go from desk to desk and sometimes had 2 pens in my pocket, and sometimes none. We had standard pens supplied and hence it was very difficult to trace the owner. But this was a common issue. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/7 "2012-01-13T17:41:27Z")
Just bic-cause. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/8 "2012-01-13T17:44:42Z")
I do this, but not by any intention. Pens are just in that category of disposables to me. They have no value. They’re like tooth picks and paper napkins. You use one, it’s yours. I know some people make a fuss over their own pen. But I don’t understand why. If I happen to carry your pen away, well sorry. You can have mine. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/9 "2012-01-13T17:46:27Z")
But I don’t want yours, I want mine! I don’t care if they look the same! ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/10 "2012-01-13T17:52:50Z")
Maybe you should run for President in the Czech Republic. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/11 "2012-01-13T19:29:06Z")
Ever steal any nice pens? You know, like Mont Blanc? Or is it just cheapos? ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/12 "2012-01-13T19:40:09Z")
Argh I hate you! (Well you know, not actually you but people like you!) I used to have a desk that was at the end of a row near an open spot where people congregated and had informal meetings. I swear I went through about a dozen pens a day and the tiny little woman who controlled our office supplies was mean to me when I regularly went to her for replacements. It got to the point, but the time our remote work program started that I was just buying a box of cheap pens myself to avoid the entire situation and putting a mug of pens on the cabinet closest to that area. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/13 "2012-01-13T19:45:05Z")
Myhusband is guilty too. Once he was in an Ex’s office and pocketed his very expensive pen. Security came to find him. He’s a little more careful now. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/14 "2012-01-13T20:22:16Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Ever steal any nice pens? You know, like Mont Blanc? Or is it just cheapos? I’d do it by accident. If I recognize something as an expensive pen I wouldn’t simply pick it up. And if it was offered I’d make sure to give it right back. But if you leave a really expensive but indistinct pen lying on a desk somewhere, I’ll just pick it up if I need a pen. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/15 "2012-01-13T20:56:01Z")
I’m also whatever the opposite of a pen thief is. I buy a lot of pens, but they end up migrating to work because I stash them in my bag, then when I can’t find a pen at work because some thoughtless jerk has picked it up from my bench or desk and put it in his pocket, I grab one from my bag because I know I always have some. This depletes my pen supply, so I need to buy more. Luckily, no one has ever taken my really nice pen (it is engraved with my name, which might be part of the reason why), but they take my normal ones all the time because I buy much nicer ones than the standard bics we keep at work. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/16 "2012-01-13T22:17:36Z")
I had a friend in college that was like that, only with lighters. We’d set out for a party and he’d have his lighter (he was a smoker), but by the end of the night he’d have like 7 of them. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/17 "2012-01-13T22:25:19Z")
You mean you have my Space Pen that I lost at the Rainbow on Sunset several years ago? I’ll have that back, please. ---
**Author:** ![missinformation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@missinformation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missinformation)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/18 "2012-01-14T00:20:45Z")
My stepfather does this…he has a coffee can filled with pens. He goes to the doctor to fill out a form, and the pen _magically_ makes its’ way into his shirt pocket. I cannot believe all the pens he has managed to take. It was even worse when I worked for a clinic in NY. We had drug reps come in, and I swear he could smell a pen a mile away…I would get home and get shaken down for my pens…I still have to hide my pens to this day… I also used to work with a lady named Peggy - Peggy the Pencil Thief! 🙂 She would grab a pencil to do the markdowns in the department (retail) and then stick her hand into her pocket, and the pencil would go with it…she would then get another pencil…we used to teasingly make her empty her pockets before she went home…usually she had a half dozen or so. My old boss also used to swipe pens off of any desk she walked past. However, she was a pen cap chewer…we never wanted our pens back after she had them…for her birthday one year, I found pens with her name on them and bought her 5 packages…for a while, it was nice to have pens…until she lost all of hers!!! ---
**Author:** ![y7xzh1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e9c0ed/32.png) [@y7xzh1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/y7xzh1)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/19 "2012-01-14T06:58:52Z")
news papar said there is a guys like stole everything ,when he is under arrest,he said he stole whole the life,at least 500 times theft pen is not very valuable,i think you just nostalgic psychology,always thinking back memories　terrible or fine ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-such-a-pen-thief/609384/20 "2012-01-14T07:04:21Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Just bic-cause. That’s enough to make me pen and ink.