Office Supply Addict

If loving pens and paper is wrong, I don't want to be right

Some people are really into clothes, shoes, or handbags. Others are obsessed with all things Disney or K-pop or Hawaii.

Me? I'm into office supplies.

Probably the first clue that I would be into office supplies was when I played with my grandfather's adding machine, which he had hooked up in his basement. I don't remember what he told me he used it for, I just remember that I loved the sounds it made when I punched in the numbers and the feel of the keys under my fingertips. I do kinda remember he got nervous that I might break it, likely based on the glazed-over look on my face as I banged away on the keys.

The second clue was that Grandpa had an empty name plate holder in his office and I asked if I could have it. As the firstborn grandchild, I was hard to refuse, so he gave the shiny gold metal holder to me. I convinced my parents to get a plastic name plate made for me—white letters on a green background, because I was in my green phase at that time—and I proudly displayed it on my SCAN teak desk for years. I think I threw out the name plate when I legally changed my name, and I may have donated the actual holder.¹

The third clue that is the most irrefutable is that I played Office. Other kids played House or School. Not me. I wanted to play Office, where I was taking meetings and calls, writing important things down on various notepads, filing papers. For a period of time I even angled my desk so that it jutted out into the room from the door. You couldn't sneak past the receptionist with that setup.

Since those early years I have collected and used a wide variety of office supplies. Staplers, staple removers, tape dispensers, scissors, pencils, pens, notepads, file folders, hanging files: been there, tried that. The beginning of every school year meant new supplies were necessary, and that was exciting because I could get a new binder, folders, and a plastic-wrapped pack of loose-leaf paper for my binder. And don't forget the dividers for each subject! That made it even more official looking.

Starting in high school, I'd pick a different method of organization each year. One year I got different color folders for each class, inserting blank loose-leaf pages into the center 3-prong holder for notetaking. I remember my algebra teacher getting upset with me for color coding some homework using the Uniball Neon Lites pens I'd bought at the stationery store in Beltway Plaza. I kept everything very neat on the page, so I am still not sure why Mr. Nelson was upset. But he was new to teaching and obviously didn't have experience with an office supply addicted teen. I'm sure he's learned his lesson by now.

Uniball Neon Lites rollerball pens from the 80s-90s. Shown here are the dark red, orange, and neon pink shades. I also had purple, lime green, and neon blue. I loved those pens.

One summer before senior year, I attended a workshop on improving studying and notetaking. The instructors taught a technique using summary-ruled paper for notes, where you'd write your notes along the right-hand side of the three-inch-wide left margin, and use the left side of the page to add headers, important points/facts to remember, and any questions. Well, any technique that involved trying a new office supply was fine by me, so off I went to the store with Momcat to find summary-ruled paper. I still have a pad in my notebook drawer because I really did find that paper excellent for note-taking.

Summary ruled paper from Roaring Spring. It is all I can do not to order this product right now.

In addition to trying out all kinds of different organizational methods for class notes, I also tried out a bunch of different pens. One year in high school I wanted fun pens, so I had a Snappy pen, black with a red wire along the sides, that flipped the cap over and around. That pen wasn't a great writer, but it was the OG fidget spinner that wouldn’t necessarily get you in trouble in class. Then there was a glitter pen filled with liquid and silvery glitter, so I could zone out looking at the glitter if the teacher was being exceptionally boring that day. In college, my friend introduced me to fountain pens, and I ended up buying an inexpensive one that used cartridge refills. I still use fountain pens now—they are environmentally friendly, easy on the hands and wrist, and offer a lot of versatility from nib size to ink color.²

I try to manage my addiction by using up what I already have as much as possible, or giving away the supplies I've tried and didn't like or no longer need. My office supply stash is not out of control these days. At least I don't think so. But come early August, when the school supply section of Target gets set up, watch out. I might be pushing aside small children to get composition notebooks, or grabbing that last pack of InkJoy pens in the multi-color set. Because I need them. I really do. Honest.

1. If I find that old holder somewhere in storage, I may well use it again, even if I’m the only one who sees it.

2. I still use ballpoint and rollerball pens because addiction, but I’m focusing on only getting pens that are refillable.