Ask the Midwest

The smell of decaying rubber bands

Drawer A has the pipe cleaners, the single-use plastic gloves, the sponges that aren't as good as the sponges I can only get at that one store, and the remote for the kitchen fan (in a ziplock to keep it dry).

Drawer B has all the guest toothbrushes, the toothpastes that are still good but aren't the favorites, and the hotel conditioner bottles.

Drawer C has the takeout menus, the soy sauce and catsup packets, the USB charging cords that only work if you wiggle them, and the boxes you plug the cords into that plug into standard outlets.

We recently did a junk drawer reset. It's ok to do that once or twice a decade.

Let's see...

Tailors tape, regular tape measure, a couple pairs of scissors, single knitting needle, kitchen knives that got wrapped up when we moved 5 years ago and haven't been used since. A couple stacks of Culver's scoopie tokens and free scoops, a couple partial stacks of post-its, Casey's pizza box tabs that the don't accept any more, a couple knife sharpeners, bag clips, corn cob holders, screwdrivers, lighters, birthday cake candles...

Scissors, tape, batteries, a deck of cards, small screwdriver, and menus.

I should probably add my drawer to the list.

4 pairs of scissors, one being child size. Box cutter, a screw driver, a multi tool and 3 Ikea allen wrenchs in case we need to tighten a screw with three sides. A yoyo, Coleman candle to get ride of mosquitos and an extra Roku dongle in case someone brings home another TV. The handle to one of the crank open windows that no longer can be tightened down hard enough to open a window. Neon fish bait, a temperature probe for a microwave we no longer own. And 3 walkie talkies with an assortment of batteries including 3 sizes of watch battery.

an assortment of floss and toothbrushes/paste left over from dentist visits. already tossed a bunch of condiment packets i never asked for