The Old Ballpoint Pen Finally Gave Up

     I don’t like to throw things away if they are still useful.  I guess that is why I still had this Province of British Columbia ballpoint pen.  I worked for the BC Forest Service for 23 years, and have now been retired from the job for 22 years.  I must have gotten that pen sometimes before 2003, and since then, while I certainly didn’t use it every day, periodically I would, if it was the first pen I saw when I needed one.  

    Today I was using it to write out a cheque for the local food bank, and suddenly my writing turned into a faint blue line; the pen finally ran out of ink.  

    I find it amazing living in a world of planned obsolescence, where things are made to become useless just shortly after you buy them or just after their warranty runs out.  I had to replace a battery for my pickup truck that quit just a few days after its warranty expired.  Days after the warranty on our hot water heater expired, our hot water tank quit working.  That is the way most things work these days, but not this old pen.  I don’t know what the lifespan of a ballpoint is supposed to be, but it is certainly before the age of 22.

    I have a story about another Province of British Columbia pen.  When my wife and I were traveling down in Mexico and we went to visit the enormous pyramids of Teotihuacan.  As we were wandering around, I was approached by a peasant who was secretly hawking “Aztec-type” artifacts.  He suspiciously looked around, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a dirt-smeared clay image and wanted me to buy it.

    I was pretty sure it was a fake artifact made by some local cottage industry, so I shook my head and tried to explain I didn’t have money on me, but old man was persistent.  I waved my hands to indicate I didn’t want it and started to walk away.   The man then pointed to the Province of British Columbia ballpoint pen that was sticking out of my shirt pocket and indicated with his hands that he would trade the clay image for the pen.  

    At that point, I thought, why not, and we made the trade.  I was happy to have the clay image and I guess he was happy to have the pen from the faraway Province of British Columbia.  I hope his pen also lasted 22 years.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca