why do americans write with pencils?

[yisk]

Why not pens?

[gut]

because they are too difficult to sharpen when they get dull

[yisk]

pencil _difficult_ to sharpen, _so_ people write with it?
this is a form of masochism, or i misunderstood?

[Silfir]

Pens are difficult to sharpen. They also don't get dull, but run out of ink. That was gut performing an act of humour.

Also, if the wikipedia article is to be believed, about a quarter of the world's pens are used by Americans. There is also the story of how Americans spent millions of dollars on research to manifacture a pen that could write in space, while the Soviets just used pencils. So I'm not too sure if Americans really tend to prefer pencils; they seem to like their pens just fine.

[Cash]

Why not pens?

you ask this based on what?

[gut]

The one time I don't use attributions...

> Why not pens?

Because they are too difficult to sharpen : )

*Ba dum chink*

I prefer pencils to pens for the following reasons.

- Erasability. Yes, pens claim to have it in theory, but in practice,
white-out is the only thing pens respect.

- Tactile sensation. Pens are too glidey, um, smooth... whatever.
Pencils on the other hand give a pleasant feel, not gritty-scratchy
like chalk, but not slippery like nasty pens are.

- Being an art enthusiast, pencils account for much, if not most
of my early creative endeavors. They have been used and respected
by some of the finest masters the world has ever produced. Maybe
a few degenerate artists did try pens from time to time, but they
always went back to pencils in the end.

- There is a wider array of pencil properties and types in which one
can be interested: charcoal, colored, 4B, 6B, 2H, mechanical...
resisting urge to go grab my art supply catalog. With pens you only
get color, and tip width. Pfft.

- The affinity toward pencils is cultivated from an earlier age. They
don't give pens to kids, as they will wind up with ink all over
themselves, their classmates, and everything else. You only begin
to use ugly ink pens at a later date, and some of us don't care much
for that transition at all. "Where is your loyalty!?"

- Pencils will never burst on you, ruining your clothing.

- Pencils will never unexpectedly run dry on you. Sure, they do wear
out, but at least they have the courtesy to give you a little warning.
Pens have no such courtesy.

- Go on, just try doing crossword puzzles in ink.

- Pencils don't need drying time. That is no problem for normal
humans, but you have to remember the birth-defected left-handers
in our populace. They have to write left-to-right, the same as we
normal people do. That means they drag their ugly, malformed,
unholy hands over every symbol they have just demon-scratched
onto their papers. The result looks like something a drunken
illiterate quickling drunk would have produced.

- If a paper gets wet, you better hope you used pencil.

- Pencils are environmentally friendly. Sure, they use wood, but
only a bit, and that is a renewable resource. Pens use a combination
of plastic (which means flourocarbons), uranium, DDT, and baby
seal livers.

The list goes on and on, and I'm tired of typing. Not to seem
unreasonable though, I will list the one and only justification
there will ever be for the existance of pens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy-j5XIYRcM&feature=fvst

[yisk]

you ask this based on what?

On the popular stereotype.
In American films pupils often write with pencils. In our schools, a pencil is used only for drawing.

gut
But your notebook will be dirty. No? Gray on gray.

[Silfir]

I always do crosswords in ink - one I got a word wrong I clumsily strike through the letters and write the correct ones in a corner, miniature-sized. Granted, I also give up once I got the second word wrong, and then just invent words for whatever is left missing. I'm not a crosswords person.

EDIT: Elementary school kids in Germany write with quill pens - a truly retarded idea that has lead to countless of ruined books, clothes and children coming home covered all over in ink. Using pencils instead would be quite smart.

[Travis Prue]

- Pencils don't need drying time. That is no problem for normal
humans, but you have to remember the birth-defected left-handers
in our populace. They have to write left-to-right, the same as we
normal people do. That means they drag their ugly, malformed,
unholy hands over every symbol they have just demon-scratched
onto their papers. The result looks like something a drunken
illiterate quickling drunk would have produced.

>_> remind me to destroy you

[JellySlayer]

Pencils don't need drying time. That is no problem for normal
humans, but you have to remember the birth-defected left-handers
in our populace. They have to write left-to-right, the same as we
normal people do. That means they drag their ugly, malformed,
unholy hands over every symbol they have just demon-scratched
onto their papers. The result looks like something a drunken
illiterate quickling drunk would have produced.

Or you could just write right to left. That's my preference if I'm forced to use a pen that has ink that's likely to smear. Mirror image is easiest, but with practice and consistent writing, you can start at the end word of the line and just write the line the way out without reversing the letters or word order. Normally, I'd just use pencil though.