An Interesting Occupation

"An Interesting Occupation" was an article that I wrote about a man named David Rees. I found Daivd Rees interesting because he sharpened pencils for a living. This article contained an interview with David Rees by TODAY.com. This was the first article i had written for school that had to be in newspaper format.

An Interesting Occupation

David Rees started Artisan Pencil Sharpening almost two years ago. As a first time business owner, he knew how his sales pitch would initially sound. That’s why he created a section on his website that answered the question, “Is this a joke?’’

“I wanted to make it very clear that this is not a fake business,’’ Rees said.

No, this business isn’t a joke at all, whatsoever. For $20, Rees will professionally sharpen your pencil.

Rees, 39, began Artisan Pencil Sharpening, based in Beacon, N.Y., in the summer of 2010. For $20, he will use a variety of instruments to sharpen a pencil, usually General Pencil Company’s Semi-Hex #2 pencils, unless the buyer supplies one. He sharpens the pencils for the specific needs of everyone from journalists to cartoonists to contractors.

“Sometimes people get really mad,’’ Rees told TODAY.com. “Some people will argue this proves how inequality is so insane in America that rich people will pay a guy $20 to sharpen a pencil, and then other people will say, ‘This is why we need to abolish the welfare state because if people just are entrepreneurs, they’ll come up with a business for anything.’’’

In an economy where the country is collectively looking under the couch cushions for change, $20 to sharpen a pencil raises some eyebrows.

Rees has always had major interest in keeping his own pencil perfectly sharpened himself, which inspired his love for sharpening pencils for others. During his school days, Rees says he stood up so many times to sharpen his pencil that he actually got in trouble for it. Can you imagine that, getting in trouble for sharpening your pencil? Me neither.

 Rees uses anything from general sandpaper to a $450 machine to achieve the desired result. The pencils are returned in a display tube with the shavings in a separate bag along with a certificate of authenticity.

Previously, Rees was a popular cartoonist, and his work appeared in Rolling Stone, GQ and other major publications. He came up using pencils for his drawings before doing them digitally. He quit cartooning and took a job in the spring of 2010 with the U.S. Census Bureau, which planted the seed for his current business.

Rees recently wrote a book, titled, How to Sharpen Pencils, which has been very popular among his followers.

Some people say getting a pencil sharpened for $20 each time is for people who don’t have anything better to do with their money. But Rees begs to differ. His sharpened pencils are very important to people, especially women.

David Rees is perfectly serious about his pencil sharpening business, and he has had over 500 people come to him who are perfectly serious about getting their pencil sharpened.