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.

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

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...

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

So I have a few junk drawers...But since we're talking about kitchen ones, I'll start there. Oven mitts, scissors, tape dispenser, twist-ties, keys (definitely a set of keys in there that aren't mine; don't even know where they came from), chip bag clips, Glade plugin-smell-good things, product/assembly manuals, and of course random assortment of screws and nails. None of this is organized into; all just thrown in.

I have two desk setups; one in the living room where I sometimes do my WFH, and another in my bedroom where I mainly game (and sometimes WFH). I have drawers attached to both. The living room junk drawer is mostly office supply related. Writing utensils, post-its, rulers, a tape measure, extra rolls of tapes, with sometimes random USB cords tossed-in.

In my bedroom, that junk drawer is similar to the living room, but has more important documents and mail (but not important enough to properly file away though), candy, box-cutter, scissors, business cards, and receipts. And also a single like, xylophone mallet? I'm 36; last time I was in a band class was 18yrs ago. And I'm not even a percussionist. No idea where that came from nor why I still have it.