Well, who would’ve thunk? March 30^th is National Pencil Day. They got a day for everything, don’t they?

As odd as it sounds, I’m loving this. Seriously! While pencils may really seem insignificant, believe it or not they aren’t to me!

Come back with me… November 1985. I had one more month to go before Christmas break at my amazing alma mater Fort Hays State University. I was eeking by with my funds and had moved solidly into swapping out my textbooks for money, buying them back at a huge discount to study for tests, and other creative money-making tactics! But it became clear that I needed some moola to get me through the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Well, for all of those who remember that process from waaaay back then… I bought a newspaper and checked out the classified and help wanted ads. While I was committed to my grades and making sure those stayed up, I needed something with flexibility and consistency.

Much to my crazy delight there was an ad from Bob’s Big Pencils. (By the way, looked them up as I was writing this piece, and darned if they’ve closed!) I don’t remember an interview, and I can assure you they did not check out my resume! It was a good ‘ole fashioned little business making novelty big pencils, crankin’ out pencils of every HUGE size and color for promotional products, fairs, novelty stores, and personal orders. My job was different every day: painting these gems, cutting the PVC pipe to hold the “eraser,” sanding the square end to form a sharp pencil end, inserting the lead, adding a name or company name.

The crew that was there at that time was, I’m sure, indicative of the crew he always had but for a few select times he had folks like me just needing some quick money. These folks took a lot of pride in their work and had stories that shocked this little innocent college junior! Making pencils WAS their career, and they were darn proud of it! This too is a part of my memory of Bob’s… rushing back to my apartment to tell Tanya my roommate the nuttiness! And I knew without a shadow of a doubt about these folks… when it came to their stories “you can’t make that sh!t up!”

So why then after all these years do I still talk about my stint as a professional Big Pencil maker? I still have the one I made myself while I was there, sitting right next to my desk where I can always see it. I love the cool pink color, with my name on it, spelled right! Such a delight for me when it was ALWAYS wrong! Anyway, I look at this pencil and for me it wasn’t about THE pencil. It was about a fabulous time in my life at FHSU. It was about even then stepping up and saying “I gotta do what I gotta do” right now. It represented a bit of laughter in sharing those stories. It meant I, too, got my pride on as in those early years I had Bob’s Big Pencils on my resume to load that document up as I was trying to find my first job out of college.  As silly as that pencil is, it says to me “you did it then, you can do it now.” It also says to me that you never know what God puts in your way with things that seem insignificant at that time, because years later it might just be that little thing that truly was a big thing. On so many levels.

So, with that Happy National Pencil Day. Here’s to you, Bob!