On 2018-07-11 9:16 AM, Cindy Hamilton wrote:
> On Wednesday, July 11, 2018 at 8:41:11 AM UTC-4, S Viemeister wrote:
>> On 7/11/2018 11:37 AM, Cindy Hamilton wrote:
>>
>>> Things must have changed in the generation between you and me. I learned
>>> to write cursive with a pencil.
>>>
>> As did I.
>> We started to use dip pens after learning cursive, then we were allowed
>> to use fountain pens. None of my classes allowed ball-points.
>
> I'm an infant of 61. It was all ball points for us. As a lefty,
> I've never been able to use a fountain pen. Not amenable to being
> pushed across the page, and my hand drags through the ink.
>

You came along just about the time that ballpoints became cheap and
reliable, and they seemed to have lost interest in penmanship.

On a side note... even though we had a bountiful supply of cheap
ballpoint pens at work, I always used me own pens. I would buy Parker
ball point pens. I found them more comfortable to hold and they could be
used upside down for a few words, which was handy at work. A cartridge
would last me for months, compared to stick pens which usually went
missing withing a couple hours. I just had to remember to take them out
of my pocket when I got home because they did not endure laundry cycles.

Having used my own pens for so many years I developed the habit of
automatically returning pens to my pocket when I was finished writing.
As a result, I have become an inadvertent pen thief. If someone loans me
a pen for something that automatic behaviour leads me to treat it as I
would treat my own pens... into the pocket.