Let's start by describing a scenario: you come home from work, open the mailbox and take out an email, after opening the mail, a small plastic bag full of pencil chips gently slides off, and then, from the mail, you take out a long, thin plastic pen holder, which contains a sharpened pencil tip, and the tip of the pen is protected by a transparent plastic sleeve.
What will your feelings be?
This is the handiwork of American David Rees, which is to cut pencils by hand on behalf of the customer, and only the #2 pencils.
His fees were not cheap, and the shouting price was five hundred dollars, of course, not just cutting a pencil.
Yes, this is more than N times more expensive than buying a pencil sharpener, can there be customers?
There are people who really pay for it.
Within two years of opening, David Richie had nearly five hundred customers, and in two years, his clients had grown to about 1,500.
He said that the customers looked satisfied and did not complain or complain.
He was also invited by a cruise ship to sharpen pencils for its passengers.
Some people hear Ritchie do this as a joke, and even write articles specifically to express indignation and criticism.
Richie was very calm, saying that the people did not understand, this is really a business, customers pay for his services, it is as simple as that.
You may be curious, do not understand it, but still write articles?
This has to be said about David and his man.
David Richie was once a well-known political cartoonist, he produced basically good-selling comic books, and naturally he is not a nameless person. He worked as a political cartoonist from 2001 to 2009, much the same cycle as Bush Jr.
He was dissatisfied with some of the things that happened during that period, and the more he did it, the more depressed he became, and finally he simply resigned and did not do it.
Unfortunately, he divorced before and after that, and he himself said that he suddenly felt that his identity was very wandering, that his identity in life was gone, because he was no longer someone else's husband; and his professional image was gone, because he was no longer a cartoonist.
He then applied for a job as a civil servant at the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, where he received training on his first day of work, one of which was to sharpen a pencil, because the public filled out a census form and used a pencil to blacken the small circle in front of the option.
Sharpen a pencil? Everyone else thought it was boring, but David Richie was very happy, and he thought, I must find a way to make a living from it.
How do you get someone to pay for a pencil to cut your own pencil?
He thought of the Internet, so he opened a small website (artisanalpencilsharpening.com), and also used social networks to communicate with customers, take orders, and then send sharpened pencils to customers through traditional mailing.
Here's a very interesting contrast: the pencil and postal networks are the most traditional communication tools for human beings, and social media and the Internet represent the most anti-traditional and cutting-edge communication technologies.
Not only that, but he also wrote a book, which can really be called unique, called "How to Sharpen a Pencil". The book introduces the technique of sharpening pencils, and there are many of his thoughts. People buy his books, and in addition to understanding the knowledge points, they also enjoy the humor and irony in the books.
The craftsman who made the pencil sharpener suddenly gave him a sense of identity.
Enjoyed watching David Ritchie hand-sharpen the pencil.
His toolbox is like props from old movies from the 20s and 30s;
Opening the toolbox, he may pull out an antique 1905 pencil sharpener and take out a piece of leather for sharpening the knife and grind the blade of the pen knife on the leather;
Ready to work, he slashed off the unwanted wood with a knife, and the action was as calm and smooth as a flowing stream;
He then finely sands the refill with sandpaper, wipes the tip with cotton, and attaches a plastic sleeve that protects the nib.
Ritchie looked at the pencil he had cut out, and his eyes became gentle.
Then it takes even longer to prepare a certificate for the pencil sharpening and pack it all up, including the pencil shavings that have been cut off, because this is also part of the pencil.
The sharpener leaves a mark on the pen, making the tip less smooth, but does it feel the time and effort spent on the nib?
Yes, the pencil is a very simple writing instrument, but, in Richie's eyes, this simple object condenses a few steps of human engineering technology for five hundred years.
The process of sharpening the pencil is to talk to the craftsmen and engineers who have failed and succeeded behind the pencil, and they are also talking to themselves.
That's all Ritchie enjoys when he cuts pencils by hand.