NO PENS

Later this afternoon I'm taking my son Noah to the airport. He's moving to New York City where he starts his first job on Monday.  Besides their first month's rent, spending money and other assorted items, what is a great gift to give someone who is starting their first professional job?

Evidently it is not a Montblanc,Waterman or Pelikan pens. Fortunately for me I asked some people before I went shopping. I first asked my neighbor Judy who works in HR for a Fortune 500. We were walking along the Mississippi when I asked if a lovely pen would be a good gift.

She was diplomatic. " You know I had a Montblanc in the 80s. I lost it," she said, adding, " I think it might be a bit old-fashioned now."

I let it sink in. I too have had a Montblanc since the 80s. I  use it in meetings during the rare times I use pen and paper --my typical mode is to thumb notes on my Blackberry. But, I still love my Montblanc and until Saturday thought it was a lovely business accessory.

It didn't bother me that  she was saying a designer pen was no longer an appropriate gift  I was bemused at myself because I was clueless.

Here I have  wantonly appeared at meetings, strategically putting my Montblanc on the table, and instead of saying "this is a woman who understands business culture, I  might as well have put a neon sign on my head saying "OLD SCHOOL".

Hoping this Montblanc hostility   might just be Judy's personal issue, I emailed a good friend who happens to be an executive in New York. I posed the pen question to her.

Her response was "NO PENS".

I didn't need a third opinion.

When  did this happen? Was it prior to Y2K? Did designer pens lose their cache when corporations decided to relax their dress codes?

As businesses revert back to more formal business attire could we see the day when a designer pen doesn't say old-fashioned ?

So I'm cool. No pens. But when I asked what business accessory I should get Noah...the only thing anyone could come up with was an iPod for the subway.

Now, I may not have known that pens were so last century but I do know this,--anyone who is graduating college and starting a job who doesn't already have an iPod probably would not appreciate one.


NOTE: Judy is a pseudonym. She is my neighbor and she definitely works in HR.