A Reddit post about a pencil too short to hold comfortably divided r/mildlyinfuriating into two camps. The poster shared a photo of the tiny pencil and said their mother wanted to throw it away. Their mother reportedly said she did not want them "to live in misery" over a pencil, according to the poster.
The poster disagreed, writing, “It’s not about the price, I feel guilty when the pencil still has worth.” That final sentence quickly became the center of the discussion. Some Reddit users focused on the pencil’s size, while others questioned the attachment behind keeping it.
One commenter defended the mother’s position and warned that short pencils could strain the hand. Another commenter wrote, “Excellent point - hands are worth more than pencil stubs.” The poster wrote, "I put it in a straw to make it longer."
“I put it in a straw to make it longer,” the poster wrote. That prompted another commenter to joke, “Well now you just wasted a straw!” The poster replied that they reused the straw whenever another pencil got short.
Several users then suggested a more conventional solution: a pencil extender. One commenter explained that extenders helped them continue using expensive colored pencils after they became uncomfortable. Another simply wrote, “Consider a proper pencil extender.”
The poster refused to retire the tiny pencil. They later explained that they made their own extender with a straw, hot glue and a longer pencil. That homemade solution earned praise, but plenty of Reddit users still wanted the pencil gone. One commenter wrote, “You have to let go… walk into the light my sweet pencil.” Another offered an even shorter verdict: “Just let go bro.”
The debate also moved toward the poster’s statement about feeling guilty over wasted value. Several commenters suggested the mindset resembled hoarding tendencies — though a Reddit thread is not a clinical setting and such characterizations carry no diagnostic weight.
One commenter shared their own experience and said assigning emotional value to objects eventually caused them to hoard. Another commenter described a parent who kept piles of half-used pencils. Those comments gave the discussion a more serious edge.
One commenter described fully using pencils and pens as a "niche pastime" and called the poster a completionist. One Reddit user told the poster they needed to learn how to let things go. Another commenter wrote, “That’s not even a pencil anymore dude.”
Still, some users supported the poster’s determination. One commenter wrote, “No keep it and be proud of using it, if we all had your sense the world would be a lot cleaner.”
This article is based on a post shared in r/mildlyinfuriating on Reddit. The Daily Dot could not independently verify the poster's circumstances or the details of the exchange with their mother.
