Are you a re-user of baggies and Ziploc bags? I am. If a bag (or a piece of foil) is dry and in pretty good shape, I always stick it back in the drawer.
And that is just where today’s story takes place: back in the drawer.
Just to set the stage for you: we have four drawers to the left of our kitchen sink. The first drawer is for flatware and the second drawer is where we store our baggies, Saran wrap, aluminum foil, etc. (Question: Do you call it aluminum foil or tin foil? I’m never quite sure what it should be.)
The third drawer is for dish towels and the fourth drawer is for snacky/sweet items.
Well, recently Steve noticed that the snacky/sweets drawer was not closing easily; in fact, it started to get so bad that one day when he tried to close it, it bounced back out a little.
Of course, my handsome handyman husband would never allow a household mystery to go unsolved so he promptly removed the drawer and began to investigate.
This is what he found.
There were so many recycled bags and pieces of foil, they completely obscured from view the visage of this intrepid, mystery-solving man.
The two of us quite came to the realization that when we had been sticking bags back in the drawer, we hadn’t sufficiently anchored them in their original containers.
Eventually the unanchored items began to mysteriously wend their way to the back of the drawer and then just as mysteriously, float their way past the third drawer and down to the back of the fourth drawer where they lay in wait for many months until the shear immensity of their numbers rose up in great power and caused them to shut down the closing of the fourth snacky/sweets drawer.
If that isn’t a fascinating story for a Monday morning, I don’t know what is.
let me give you a gander at what his bedside table has been looking like lately. Can you tell that this is a man who likes to read? It’s one of the numerous things I love about him.
He was in bed with a cold and flu all last week; in fact, he didn’t even go to church yesterday, which is a rare occurrence.
This is what he posted on Facebook on Friday:
The creeping crud got me this week. Been in bed four days thinking I’d kick this thing any time. Finally went to the doctor. (The delay is a male thing but I have been amazingly pathetic at home so as to engender the most coddling from Beck.)
While checking in at the doctor’s office I coughed and was asked me to wear a mask. I chose the one with Donald Duck on it. The receptionist thought it appropriate, I’m not sure what she meant by that.
I wear it with honor.
Quack, cough, quack.
A few people who commented on his post said they thought at first it was a disposable diaper. Now there’s a thought!
I wanted to mention that a new reader named Vivian left a comment on the great post Sarah wrote on Monday.
While I am always glad to hear from new readers, I was especially happy to hear from Vivian because she is 86 years old! I am so pleased to have a reader with so much age, experience and wisdom.
And that got me to thinking about the age range of my readers in general, wondering especially if I had anyone reading older than eighty-six. Or on the other end of the spectrum, if I had any readers under the age of eighteen.
And then that got me to thinking about reader’s ages in general so I created this handy-dandy poll which will take you all of .78 seconds to participate in.
Thanks ahead of time for helping me (and you!) get a quick age overview of the wonderful Smithellaneous readers.
I call it aluminum foil. Only save the bags the newspaper comes in and grocery bags. The newspaper bags are used for daily litterbox cleaning and grocery bags for stuff I don’t put in the garbage disposal.
Hope Steve is feeling better and you stay healthy!
Kari,
I love to reuse those grocery bags for all sorts of things, too. Nice to always have one within easy reach!
Masks and I are well acquainted, knew it was a mask right off and thought Steve had joined my club of ‘enthusiastic mask wearers of the 2017 season which keeps one from getting sick’. Ha! Wrong. Well one can dare to dream…
Tin foil. And I dont save a thing, throw everything out or donate. Clutter, even if its hidden in a drawer gives me the willies. I know…I have a problem.
So glad Steve is rebounding and great news that you are still well.
Lesley,
I’m right there with you on getting willies concerning clutter hiding in a drawer. The past year or so, I’ve been cracking down on clutter and, like you, tossing stuff out or passing it on. It’s a wonderful feeling to pare down and try to live more simply.
Healthy wishes to you and Sarah!
Well, my husband was putting away Tupperware covers tonight (he puts dishes in and takes them out of the dishwasher – what a guy!) and he heard something fall in the back of the drawer and pulled it out – much to his surprise he found some plastic bags and also the covers for bowls (I call them shower caps). Wonder how long all that stuff was back there?? Asked him if his name was Steve.
Sharyn,
That is too funn that the same thing happened to your husband within a few days of it happening to Steve. I’m just so glad we are not the only ones with storage drawer snafus!
Yes! I save and reuse baggies and aluminum foil (sometimes I say tin foil) … and Yes! They fall out the back of the drawer and cause the same problem! Thank you I am not the only one!
So sorry, Steve. My boss who is never sick got it, too! Prayers up, Mask Man!
Guerrina,
I can’t believe there is actually someone else the Migrating Baggies Syndrome has happened to. We’ll have to start a club!
too funny…your stash of bags. I call it Reynold’s Wrap… sorta like I do Jell-O and Kleenex instead of gelatin and tissue.
I can beat Steve (hope you’re feeling better) for # of books. I always request library books to be held for me. Last month I looked at the list of “New Arrivals”, and requested a bunch. Who would have guessed that 12 were available for pick-up on the same day? Fortunately, I was able to get six weeks for most of the check-outs.
Mrs. Pam,
Hmmmm. I’ve never heard of a library offering 6-week check outs, especially on New Arrivals. That is very good news for an avid reader like yourself. Enjoy!
(Note: Cindy’s comment somehow ended up in the poll commenting area so I have copied and pasted it from there to here.)
While I don’t have the flu, I did manage to catch a cold while we were in Florida of all places. So I have been coughing and snorting for the past week since returning home. Thankfully nobody has asked me to wear a mask yet, but I am on the mend now. I laughed when I saw Steve’s post, hope he is feeling better! I save zip lock bags too.
Cindy L.
Cindy,
Well, if anyone asks you to wear a mask, be sure to choose one with a duck on it!
Glad you had a safe trip to and from Florida; I know you’re more than ready for spring to hit Minnesota!
Bec, I do the foil-baggy thing too (we must be sisters) and may get to have an experience like yours someday…some year… (I’ll let you know when…) Glad Steve was there to fix your drawer. (without a mask on) It would be alarming to see a diaper- masked man prowling about your kitchen on any given Monday morning. Ruth
Ruth,
Yes, we certainly have come from a long line of thrifty, resources-conserving women!
I’m glad I didn’t have to experience the trauma of seeing the masked Steve in person. 🙂
I sometimes save “tinfoil” and occasionally ziplock bags but my kitchen is so small that there are no extra drawers for anything. I have to store my canned goods under the microwave stand but I have now found that it is getting too hard to get down to the floor and back up again after finding what I need. 🙂
I too thought that it was a disposable diaper on Steve’s face at first glance and wondered what he was up to but that quickly left my mind as this is Steve we were seeing and nothing surprises me with him. You have a keeper there. 🙂 Happy Valentines day to both of you and hope that Steve is feeling better.
Mel,
I can relate about the not being able to get back up problem; that happened to me this week when I got stranded down low! 🙂
And you’re right about nothing surprising us with Steve; he’s always got something wacky up his sleeve. (Or over his nose and mouth.) 🙂
When I save bags and foil I usually end up trashing them because they clog up the drawer. I forget to use them. I switch between tin and aluminum foil. Whichever I think of first. Pray Steve is better and he does not share.
Ann,
I think we should all go with “tin” because it’s so much easier to say! 🙂
So far, he has not shared his ailment with me; I am grateful.
Hmmm, tinfoil vs aluminum foil . . . I always call it aluminum foil. My nephew would probably disown me if I called it tinfoil. Of course that could be because he works for Alcoa would not agree with anyone who calls something made from aluminum “tin” anything! 😉
Linda,
I actually just did some research on this since we’ve been talking about it this week. Turns out, foil used to be madefrom tin which was heavier than aluminum and gave a slight tinny taste to food. With that in mind, I’m happy it is now aluminum foil! 🙂
Sure hope Steve is on the mend now. I call it tinfoil. I do save all my bags, but not to re-use for foods etc. I am a daycare provider so all my stinky diapers go into a bag and gets sealed. My house smells enough without having diapers just set in the garbage can..ha ha!
Wendy,
Hooray for another “tinfoil” person!
Yes, I can certainly understand wanting to get those diapers locked away as soon as possible. 🙂
I sure do save foil and ziplocs that are still clean and in good condition. And wrapping paper, bows, and gifts bags. But I refuse to have a giant ball of bits of string. A girl has to draw the line somewhere. 🙂
I call it tin foil, since that is what my mom calls it – but it really is aluminum. Maybe I am just too lazy to say “aluminum” when “tin” will do.
Jessica,
Well, I’m glad you have drawn the line somewhere! I really can’t even imagine what I would DO with a giant ball of string but I know that used to be a common thing to have back in the day.
Let’s hear it for tin!
I call it aluminum foil. I recyle some bags, probably not as much as you. When I travel, I put my weekly pill container in a ziplock. That way if one of the little sections comes open in transit, they are contained in the baggy. I do reuse that bag. My mother reuses bags more than me.
Hope Steve feels better soon. Not surprised that he hadn’t gone to the doctor earlier. Men are like that. 🙂
Phyllis,
I’m right there with you on using Ziploc bags for travel; they are good for all sorts of things. When I pack, I put necklaces in sandwich bags and then put all the sandwich bags in one gallon bag.
I am joining in with the others – have washed and recycled bags for years. My daughter, who is married with 4, almost out of teen years, will have nothing to do with that. Also the aluminum foil, as long as there is no food on it, it will get recycled. If there is food on it, don’t want to take the time to try and clean it off, especially if it’s from lasagna. We always get a flu shot, and haven’t had the flu in years, although we know there are different kinds. Did he get a shot? Praying he’s better soon.
Sharyn,
Nope, Steve didn’t get a shot but I did and so far, I haven’t gotten sick. (And I’m the one with the compromised immune system!)
I agree–washing food off tinfoil is way too time consuming. But recycling other stuff always gives me a feeling of being a good steward. Sounds like you can relate!
I’m *howling* at the duck mask. 🙂 Disposable-diaper-y, indeed!
I used to reuse ziplocks more than I do now – but I do reuse the ones that had “dry” items in them, as well as the one we use for blocks of cheese.
I say aluminum foil. My husband insists it’s aluminium foil. We pronounce a lot of words differently, because we’re from different countries.
Such as:
Renaissance – he says “ren AY sonce” in stead of “REN nah sonce.” Oh – and that reminds me. In British English, the period goes outside the quote marks, instead of inside.
Mandatory – he says “man DAY t’ry.”
Privacy – he says it with a short “i” sound – like privy.
I hope Steve soon kicks the flu to the curb. It’s going around in STL, too.
Stefanie,
Yes, the duck masked man is not a sight one can easily forget. 🙂
I love your husband’s pronunciations, especially for mandatory. And I didn’t know about British English switching around the quote marks.
The things I learn from my readers! 🙂
Oh yes indeed! I DO save *aluminum* foil and baggies and ziplock bags too! I have a basket sort of the size of a shoe box that I keep in my pantry. All of my baggies/ziplocks that I wash and re-use go in that basket. At first my husband thought it was gross to re-use them which cracks me up since they get washed. Anyway, he doesn’t say anything about it now. I’m sure he figures it wouldn’t do any good anyway. 🙂
I hope Steve gets to feeling better soon! Is it the flu? Influenza A is going around here like crazy. My 2 y.o. grandson is sick and I suspect flu with him. 🙁 However he seems to be turning the corner this morning, thank goodness!
LeeAnne,
So glad your grandson is turning the corner; that warms a grandma’s heart!
And your husband sounds like a wise man who knows when it’s time to back off from something and let his wife do what she wants to do. 🙂 Hooray for recyling!