I had my car inspected recently and while I was looking for my proof of insurance card and the receipt that said I’d paid my taxes, I ran across a whole bunch of other stuff — stuff that I have no idea why it hadn’t been thrown out.
Cars used to have glove compartments — a little door on the dashboard in front of the passenger seat and that’s where you put stuff, like the owners’ manual. Well, actually, that little compartment still exists — the door is pretty much where it’s alway been, but I’m not sure I’ve ever opened that little door more that once or twice since I’ve owned the car.
All the cars now have another compartment between the drivers seat and the front passenger seat — that’s where all the stuff goes in my car — not the “glove” compartment.
While I was looking for my insurance and tax forms, I ran across a roll of quarters — Claire put them there in case we needed them for a parking meter, two cell phone chargers that fit into a cigarette lighter socket — my car doesn’t have a cigarette lighter — it has a USB outlet for phones, a bag of cough drops, a flashlight, a “wonder tool” that has about a dozen “tools” — kind of like a Swiss Army knife. A pack of Kleenex. Two tire gauges — one analog, one digital. A listing of all the sirius radio channels. A large pack of coupons from Bed, Bath & Beyond — mostly expired, some in 2016. A couple of old Covid masks. A USB charging cable that actually fits my phone, a couple of pieces of paper of unknown origin, an emergency flasher, and a couple of loose coins. There was no owners’ or operators’ manual — that’s the only thing in the glove box on the dash.
I suppose I should probably get in the habit of cleaning out this storage console more regularly — maybe at least every year when I get the car inspected… kind of like changing the batteries in the smoke detectors when you change the clocks for daylight savings time — but at least that happens twice a year, my car only gets inspected once a year.
I’ve always tried to keep my cars relatively clean and clutter free — even the “glove” compartments and the trunk. But I have to admit that lately I’ve let both of these areas get a little messy.
It occurs to me that my car has lights and warnings for just about everything — if my seatbelt isn’t fastened, the door or window is open, if I forget to hit the “off” button (it’s a “hybrid”) when I get out, when the car needs maintenance or an oil change. It seems to me it wouldn’t be so hard to add some sort of notification to clean out the glove box periodically…..
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