Flairgate
[Source: Google Search]The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with.
~~Anon
I found myself propped up in bed this very morning, earlier than usual due to my extreme level of anxiety in anticipation of our upcoming trip to Europe and points beyond. After a quarter of a glass of Cold Brew, and while rubbing the remnants of a visit by the Sandman from my eyes, I reached for my iPhone to get a dose of dreadful news…an everyday event during these troubling days. I glanced at a few news items and read a movie review. While scrolling toward the Sunday crossword, I stumbled across a Wirecutter article. In case your are not a dutiful reader of The Old Gray Lady, this feature is their product testing and recommendation piece. The headline caught my eye.
We Sent Ralph Nader Some of Our Favorite Pens. He Dismissed Them All.
The article was much longer than most product investigations I’ve read. The essence is as follows:
Ralph Nader sent a box of Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Pens to the Times office asking for help. He claimed that his pen of choice, the Flair, was drying out too quickly. His query set in motion an extensive dive down a rabbit hole of product development and scrutiny that, frankly, read like a John Le Carre novel. I was fascinated, not because I was too worried about Mr. Nader’s plight, but something flickered in my memory bank. But, first, Nader’s question…
The staff of Wirecutter began an investigation into the Flair that could fairly be compared to something from CSI. There were several theories put forth about why his pens were drying out. So, the pens were examined by CT Scans, ink analysis, climate and weather information of Washington, DC (where Mr. Nader lives and works), and eBay purchases of mint condition old Flairs. The questions led them to interview product engineers, ink chemists and even a German contact who was the only person to comment for the record.
Here is a brief look at some very revealing images of the pens (the parent company of Paper Mate claims that there is really no difference in the design or manufacturing of the pens).
Stay with me.
[Fig. 1. Was the point protector switch the reason for the premature drying of the pens? Source: NY Times.]
[Fig. 2. A scanned image of Flair pens from 1966 to last year. Was it the plastic? Source: NY Times.]
[Fig. 3. A very revealing sample of the way that the pens write, even after all these years. Source: NY Times.]
What’s the reason for Mr. Nader’s problem? In short, it’s a combination of quite a few variables. I would suggest that you read the article. You won’t be sorry.
So, what’s all this have to do with me? In turns out, a lot. It’s a story of a last camping trip for a beloved brother, a tent, a young boy with a great deal of imagination and energy, a father’s guilt and final forgiveness.
The year was 1994. My older brother, Chris, had been diagnosed with cancer. The prognosis was not good. So, Mariam, myself, my son Brian, Chris’ son, Michael and daughter, Elizabeth and my other brother, Dan went on a canoe camping trip to Long Pond in the Adirondacks. It was a favorite place of Chris. We had a large site. It was needed. It had to accommodate at least four tents. And this is where the Flair connection enters.
I was a faithful user of this felt tip pen for many of my earlier years in teaching. Bold writing. Bold marks…B+ C- A+, etc. It was my go to pen and I had packed a dozen of them for the trip (I was trying to keep a diary). Brian came to me and asked if I could find something for him to use as a sword. He was into Light Sabers at the time. He wanted to use a stick. I had the eternal paternal image/fear of him poking his eye out with said stick, so I said no, I had something better.
I handed him a Flair or two. Soon he disappeared into our 4-person tent. Room to stand for a seven-year-old. While the rest of us sat around the campfire one afternoon, I heard the swish sound he was making as he fought Darth Vader.
When I checked on him in the tent he seemed tired from all the swishing. I turned to unzip the door when I noticed something on the inside nylon wall of the tent. There were ink splatters.
It was then that I made the dreadful mistake of doubting the veracity of my son. And I still have nightmares about it to this day.
“Where did these marks come from, Brian?”
“I don’t know.”
“But they weren’t here before. Only after you were playing.”
“I didn’t make them.”
“You had to have made them. You were the only one in here.”
“But I didn’t.”
“Be honest with me, Brian. Did you do this?”
“No.”
To my everlasting shame, I didn’t believe him.
“What were you using to play with?”
“This.” He showed me a black Flair.
I thought, how could this be? It’s a felt tip. If it were a fountain pen, that’s another story.
Years passed. When he was a teenager, I brought up the story. We laughed. But I continued to feel the grinding painful guilt of not trusting my son. I found an old Flair I had tucked away somewhere and somehow I discovered that one could indeed swing (or swish) the pen and the ink would fly out!
He was right.
I have apologized multiple times to him and he says that I should forget all about it. It was nothing, he says.
But, my heart has an ever so tiny crack in it…put there by the sadness a father feels when he has disappointed his son. I’ve been in that corner of Purgatory where fathers dwell when they felt they knew better. That tiny crack, imperceptible but present, cannot be covered.
Even by a black, eternally black ink of any pen, even the legendary Paper Mate Flair Pen.
A Final Word: A few weeks ago, Brian and his wife, Kristin, went camping with the old tent. He said the ink stains were still there.
After thirty years!
{Note: Please follow me on Facebook, My Website: http://www.patrickjegan.com and YouTube. A big trip looms and I’m armed with a Go Pro and I will soon know how to use it.}
