# What piles up in your car? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018 "2004-08-22T22:41:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/21 "2004-08-23T04:23:06Z")
Empty Pepsi cans and empty cigarette packs. Apologizes to anyone who has to ride in the back. ---
**Author:** ![smartini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@smartini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartini)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/22 "2004-08-23T06:07:31Z")
:eek: Has anyone seen **EddyTeddyFreddy**? Should one of us go check her car? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/23 "2004-08-23T06:22:55Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > Empty plastic water bottles and aluminum cans pile up on the floor of my car, then I purge them and start over again. But that’s it. I make sure not to have loose french fries lying around, or anything else that might pervade the vehicle for weeks on end. > > What’s collecting in **your** ride? All kinds of paper and fast food stuff like bags and soda cups. ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/24 "2004-08-23T13:18:31Z")
Passenger’s side (floor): McDonald’s bag, toothpicks (used), coupon book, empty straw wrappers. Island between the seats: Kleenex box with Kleenex. 35mm camera (with half the film used and good batteries), hand lotion, unused toothpicks, pair of pliers (to open the hood because the inside release doesn’t work), change (mostly quarters for parking), old McDonald’s Monopoly playing pieces. (Really, I rarely eat at McDonalds…) Back Seat: Son’s Bionicle pieces. Son’s coloring book. Daughter’s right sneaker (for driving when she’s wearing heels). Coupon box (for groceries). Plastic container (empty, from lunch last week). Empty Dasani bottle. Bits of paper. Used Kleenexes. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/25 "2004-08-23T13:28:05Z")
Front: Pop cans, paper cups, lid and straw separated as I munch on the ice when I finish the drink, napkins, ATM receipts, straw wrappers, pens, pencils. Back: Bag of cans which had been in the front, newspapers, junk mail that I don’t bother carrying into the house. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/26 "2004-08-23T13:41:50Z")
Nothing. I keep my car clean, and empty any trash that accumulates on the floor of the passenger side. What I really, really don’t get is when people have a nice, new, or expensive car that they let fill up with junk. I drive a 95 Explorer that has well over 200K miles on it. However, my vehicle looks nicer than many brand new ones simply because I don’t use it like a dumpster. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/27 "2004-08-23T13:42:15Z")
> [@smartini](#): > > :eek: > > Has anyone seen **EddyTeddyFreddy**? > > Should one of us go check her car? > > 😃 Heh. You should see it in the winter, when to what’s already listed I add: Extra Polarfleece vest (replaces jacket) Two or three pairs of pebble-palm knit gloves (great for barn work and riding) Mini snow shovel Bucket of sand Rubber mallet for breaking ice out of water buckets Ear muffs Windshield scraper Two six-gallon plastic gas cans (for carrying hot water to the barn) Jar of horse treats (not in summer because of heat spoilage) ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/28 "2004-08-23T13:44:18Z")
Nothing. I am especially fastidious about cleaning out my car because I’m paranoid of people breaking into it, hoping to find riches among any crap I have piled up in there. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/29 "2004-08-23T14:26:14Z")
Trying to read while scrolling quickly through the thread led me to believe that **jayjay** had plastic poop bottles and \*\*El Kabong \*\* had Half-used joints. The second one seemed somewhat appropriate. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/30 "2004-08-23T14:51:36Z")
Nothing. It’s a car, not garbage can. Jeez, how can you people stand to drive around surrounded by all that crap? (Used toothpicks??) ---
**Author:** ![Merhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/31 "2004-08-23T15:10:58Z")
> [@LionelHutz405](#): > > Nothing. It’s a car, not garbage can. > > Jeez, how can you people stand to drive around surrounded by all that crap? > (Used toothpicks??) In **phall0106** ’s defense, the toothpicks are **UN** used 😉 My car isn’t too bad lately – few books, napkins, misc. papers I should throw in the glovebox, but many years ago I just about lived in my car, and yes, it looked it. There wasn’t a front passenger seat. It was a landfill. The back seat could be a cot, but there wasn’t exactly leg room there either. Truth is and always has been stranger than fiction. My life proves it. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/32 "2004-08-23T16:22:29Z")
-Various small toys, rattles and noisemakers -Empty sippy cups. Amazing how far a one-year-old can fling one of those, and we never think to look for them when we get home. -Clean fast food napkins. You can never have enough. -Pennies. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/33 "2004-08-23T17:57:19Z")
Mostly water and juice bottles, books and magazines, and gas station receipts. It looks pretty messy, but by my average lifetime standards it’s not that bad. See, years ago when I was in high school, the back seat of my car was completely useless due to all the trash in it. One day I got a wild hair and decided to clean it out, and just to make it fun, I kept an itemized list of everything I found, down to the penny and each individual straw wrapper. The only thing I remember specifically: three apple cores. So after that rather disgusting learning experience, I’ve tried to be better. I mostly (but not entirely) succeed. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/34 "2004-08-23T18:08:24Z")
> [@LionelHutz405](#): > > Nothing. It’s a car, not garbage can. > > Jeez, how can you people stand to drive around surrounded by all that crap? > (Used toothpicks??) Heh, that’s nothing. I went out for Japanese food one evening, and I parked next to this car–I didn’t notice anything at first, but I took a second look, and my jaw just about dropped to the ground. It was FULL of trash! Except for the driver’s seat, of course–gotta sit somewhere. But the back seat and the passenger seat were stuffed full of trash, about halfway up the windows (or more). It was a treasure trove of plastic takeout containers, fast food bags and cups, and other assorted garbage. I don’t know how they could drive without Mount Trashmore falling over. It wasn’t an old, junky car, either–it was a sedan, maybe 5 years old, in decent shape. I’m wondering if it’s really a performance art piece, because I just don’t see how they could keep the trash from falling on the driver. Maybe it’s glued together. What piles up in my car: CDs Little bits of paper with directions Receipts ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/35 "2004-08-23T18:08:39Z")
Empty whiskey bottles & bullet casings. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/36 "2004-08-23T18:27:49Z")
> [@LionelHutz405](#): > > Nothing. It’s a car, not garbage can. > > Jeez, how can you people stand to drive around surrounded by all that crap? > (Used toothpicks??) Yikes! I agree! If I get one empty water bottle floating around in my car, I’m apologizing to my passenger for the mess. I can’t stand driving in a cluttered car. It might be dirty, but it’s not collecting crap. I know some people leave specific stuff in their cars for a reason (extra jacket or an umbrella, etc). I can totally understand that. Sometimes I leave a duffle bag with my riding gear in the trunk so I don’t forget it when I’m out at the barn. But what’s with the garbage piling up or kids toys all over the place? I don’t understand. It’s a car, not a toybox or garbage. I have one friend where I have to clear all the papers, wrappers and stuff off the front seat everytime I ride with her. Didn’t notice I had sat on a crayon (wearing light colored pants, no less) until I got out of the car. Ugh! My sister is like that, too. I just plain don’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/37 "2004-08-23T18:29:37Z")
For three years, while I lived in the desert, it was half filled water bottles. At one point, when I cleaned out my car, I found over 20 of them - pint and quart sized. Usually, the reason I didn’t finish them was that I’d get somewhere, leave it in the car, and when I got back, it’d be all hot and disgusting, so I’d buy a new one next time I needed it. Mostly I bought bottled water because even filtered, the local water supply left sticky yellow deposits. I humored myself by remembered a story of some poor grandmother in Florida who’d gone off an elevated highway. Her car was caught, upside down in a tree. It was three days before anyone found her (they thought she’d been kidnapped or something), and she survived because she had a bunch of half-empty water bottles in her car. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/38 "2004-08-23T19:49:21Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > But what’s with the garbage piling up or kids toys all over the place? Garbage tends to boil down to laziness. We keep a garbage bag that gets taken in and thrown away when we need to use it. Toys? Well, when you’ve got a toddler, it’s just a good idea to keep toys on hand to entertain him in the car. They also come in handy when you visit friends and realize you didn’t pack anything to keep the little one busy - you can just run out to the car and grab some of his favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/39 "2004-08-23T19:52:16Z")
> [@Kilt-wearin' man](#): > > Garbage tends to boil down to laziness. We keep a garbage bag that gets taken in and thrown away when we need to use it. Hmmm…how’s that for masterful command of syntax? “_That’s why_ we keep a garbage _in the car_ bag etc, etc…” Much better. Now I’ll write that on the blackboard 50 times. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018/40 "2004-08-23T19:54:03Z")
Crap. I keep digging this hole bigger and bigger. “That’s why we keep a garbage bag in the car…” Yeesh. I’m gonna stop trying to communicate now. It’s better that way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-piles-up-in-your-car/261018.md?page=3)