Pen vs. Pencil

 

Which do you prefer—pen or pencil?

Personally, I prefer pens. I like the sight of the ink—the boldness and fluidness of it, especially of uni-ball pens! I also don’t have to worry about words pulling a Houdini after years of being on the page. And being left handed—I hate smudging my paper with pencil anatomy, having to wash graphite off my hand after every period.

From what I’ve observed in classrooms though, both high school and college, I think that I’m in the minority. The appeal of the pencil—being able to erase mistakes, seems to be more favorable than the utensil that makes a declaration with every stroke, in which a mistake is very noticeable with a dark line or scribble. (I do agree though, the beaver-side of me that is, pencils are much better to chew on than pens [bad habit].) And perhaps, not all messages should last forever and be allowed to fade with time, or they shall be greatly misunderstood later, such as “He testified for the prostitution[1].” or “It’s like killing two brides[2] with one stone.” or even “Baseball-sized hell[3] fell on the town.” (Important Tip: When writing, check spelling, kind of important.)

So I wonder, does the preference of pen or pencil reveal an aspect of your character?

You may have noticed recently the influx of Facebook posts with the results of personality quizzes, such as: Which Fruit are You?—Banana, Which Star Wars Character are You?—Obi-Wan Kenobi, How Long Would You Survive a Zombie Apocalypse?—15 days—(I may have taken a few . . .). Why?

Because we like to uncover things about ourselves, don’t we? (Sidenote: are these feathergiddy quizzes truly gurus into our inner life? Or are they general statements that point out qualities anyone would love to believe they have/would not deny themselves having. That you can have the same results on a quiz as a serial killer?) This may sound a little conceded, but there’s no sin in a healthy dose of curiosity, especially in wondering who you are? Plus, it’s fun, isn’t it? Seeing a quiz pop up on your wall, Harry Potter Sorting Hat House Quiz.

The enjoyment of answering questions, such as:

3.) Someone has played a prank on you which involves your public embarrassment and everyone begins laughing at you. However, you doubt they meant any harm by it.

Laugh along with the crowd. You love a good joke even if it’s at your expense.

On the outside you’ll laugh because you don’t want anyone to know that they really hurt your feelings by making you look stupid in front of everybody.

You get upset and run away from the crowd. How could they be so mean?

That jerk! You get mad right away and tell it to their face.

Pretend that all is well, but you won’t forget this. They’re going to pay for what they did! How dare they publicly humiliate you.

The anticipation of, “What am I going to get?” And then finally, discovering your results and comparing them with your friends—Hufflepuff!

Just beware of the dangers. Don’t let a silly quiz define who you are.

So, does favoring pen over pencil and vice versa reveal an aspect of your personality? Perhaps. The Are You a Pen or Pencil? quiz on Blogthings.com seems to think so:

You Are a Pen:
You are a very precise and detail oriented person. You don’t make many mistakes.
You’re the type who can risk writing in pen. You like making things permanent.
You are decisive and focused. You know what you want, and you go after it.
You like to be in control, and you don’t really care for change. You like to count on yourself.

You Are a Pencil:
You are a flexible, easy going person. You go with the flow, and you don’t mind making a few mistakes along the way.
You don’t like paying attention to details, and you feel constricted by rules.
You are a free spirit. You wouldn’t want to predict the future even if you could.
You love that life is full of surprises. In fact, you surprise yourself every day.

Like I said, don’t let a quiz define who you are. With that said, the pen personality does describe me more than the pencil. . . . What do you think? Does the writing utensil you use most often, make a statement about your personality?

~Photo Obtained

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[1] prosecution
[2] birds
[3] hail