why do you think we store our pens/pencils in our pen/pencil cups with the caps up? all my markers and bic pens are sitting in cap-side up. one would think that we would store them the other way to promote the flow of ink easily through the ball point. i know this. i believe it. yet i don't change. when i pick up a pen to write with, i want to be able to write immediately instead of scribbling on a scrap piece of paper to get the ink flowing. and let's be honest...do we always have a scrap piece of paper to scribble on?