Demystifying the Purple Pen

I walk around with a purple pen in my hand most of the time. Certain documents just shouldn't be signed in purple ink. But there I am, reduced to purple.

And here's why. Back in the day, when travel was horse and buggy and we all voted for Abraham Lincoln, teachers graded in red. And only red. Being one of those kids who played 'teacher', I knew that I would grade every paper in red when I grew up. Because that's the correct teacher color, right? I am a teacher so it naturally follows that I should grade in red.

But over time, I realized what a mean color that ink can be. Nearly every student cringes at red marks on their papers. Since it often means a mistake, the reaction is deserved. Adding to the mix of my own emotions regarding red ink, someone came out several years ago with one of those officious studies stating that red ink is an angry color. Thanks, whoever you are, for proving my point! 

For a while, I switched to green. It's less angry but is still bright enough to be noticed. But green just wasn't doing it for me, you know? So I continued my search of appropriate shades of ink for grading. My all-time favorite color to use is a beautiful teal, but there's one problem with that. It only comes in multi-color packs. I don't need all those peripheral colors, thank you. Just the teal. So forget that. Then somewhere along the way, I found this lovely shade of purple. It's sweet and kind and colorful enough to be noticed without forcing the dreaded gut-angry reaction. It's perfect for me. Because I'm sweet and kind and colorful enough to be noticed without forcing gut-angry reactions...most of the time!