By Wendy Cartwright

Guest columnist

Every Midwesterner has a junk drawer.

This is another one of those topics I find interesting. Specifically, why is this phenomenon unique to us? Junk drawers are very important to the mechanics of a home.

The junk drawers I have seen and used seem to have some contents in common, such as office supplies. However, the contents themselves don’t always have anything in common with each other. That is most likely why they find themselves in the drawer.

Inside many kitchens, there is a drawer that is smaller than the rest. This usually gets used as the junk drawer. There is not enough space for a silverware tray or all of the homeowner’s spatulas, mixing spoons and ladles. A junk drawer is its only practical use.

Junk can be any size as long as it fits inside this drawer. Sometimes, it is long like scissors. Sometimes, it’s small like a pack of Taco Bell sauce. It could be useless like dead batteries. Or it could be helpful like bandages.

I would define junk as any item that is smallish in nature, impossible to part with due to the possibility that it may or may not be useful at any point in the near or distant future and has no specific designated space in the home (aside from the junk drawer).

The most interesting thing about the junk that is in the junk drawer is that every junk drawer owner has it catalogued in their mind and when asked where a specific piece of junk is located will simply say, “Go look in the junk drawer.”

Wendy Cartwright hails from the North Vernon area and has lived there most of her life. She has a love of sharing her thoughts on growing up in the Midwest and other stories from her life. She spends her days reading and writing in the home she shares with her husband and chihuahua. Send comments to [email protected].