Does anyone have a pen?

My spouse and I attended a few of the events at the Vancouver International Writer's and Reader's Festival this year. It was great to watch a few authors read from their books - and then have on-stage discussions afterwards or answer audience questions.

We even purchased a couple of books and had the authors sign them. Ooh, my first signed book, I was quite thrilled!

So the authors had pens to sign their books... but the audience members were given surveys to fill out, and do you think anyone in the audience had a pen? The audience is made up of mostly wanna-be writers, but no pen was in sight. Going to a writers festival without a pen is quite ironic.

It seems odd to think about it now, but with computers taking over the planet, why would anyone cary a pen? It's about as anachronistic as wearing a watch, rather than using your cell phone as a time keeping device. It's odd how the everyday of a decade ago is a foreign concept now.