# What's on your nightstand?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [February 16, 2023, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891 "2023-02-16T13:55:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/41 "2023-02-16T21:27:51Z")

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Dust always. We live on a gravel road and have two dogs.

Otherwise

- Cell Phone. It acts as my clock. Don’t really need a clock though. Dogs wake us up by 3:30am every morning. I haven’t slept until sunrise for decades. Just the way I am.
- Kindle
- Lamp

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**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/42 "2023-02-16T22:12:49Z")

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My side has a coaster, 2 books, Chapstick, a lamp. The other side has a lamp and 2 books on top of which is the alarm clock.

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**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/43 "2023-02-16T22:16:18Z")

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The current book, reading glasses, CPAP machine, iPad, clock radio, phone charging cord.

Overnight, a tumbler of iced Crystal Lite.

mmm

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/44 "2023-02-16T22:27:29Z")

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A lamp, my Kindle and a wristwatch that I never wear. At night, add my glasses.

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**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/45 "2023-02-16T22:47:21Z")

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Monkey wrench.  
Half-eaten ham sandwich.  
Wilson Pickett’s Greatest Hits.

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**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/46 "2023-02-16T22:56:06Z")

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Lamp, charging cord, water bottle because I take medication that gives me dry mouth, lip moisturizer, eye drops for the same reason.

The nightstand actually has two drawers that I use for less than frequently-worn clothing like long johns, a special slip that goes with a single skirt, etc. and a heating pad and wrist brace. Because getting old.

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**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/47 "2023-02-17T01:22:03Z")

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Can it be a nightstand from my past?

Senior year of college I moved out of an Animal House and into the upstairs of an elderly widow’s house. It was so quiet (no TV or music), that I’d go to bed early under a handmade comforter, in my four-poster antique bed.

And reach over to my nightstand, where I had a stack of at least twenty books. What a feeling, to have hours of reading ahead of me and nothing I even have to think about except “What literary mood am I in tonight?”

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**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/48 "2023-02-17T01:39:00Z")

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It was more important to me to when I began working from home to have a reasonably sized office than a large master bedroom, so my bedroom is both too small and too oddly shaped to accommodate a night stand.

Someday…

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**Author:** ![Amikejo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/amikejo/32/13637_2.png) [@Amikejo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amikejo)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/49 "2023-02-17T01:41:06Z")

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Lamp  
Unread books  
Pen and paper  
Tissues  
Earbuds  
Bottle of water

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**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/50 "2023-02-17T01:41:55Z")

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My glasses when i sleep. This is why i need to have a nightstand, or something like it, it to sleep on the floor. I need to be able to find my glasses when i wake up.

I have all sorts of other stuff, too. A clock radio that hasn’t worked on more than a decade, that holds a lamp at a nice height. The lamp. My wallet. My keys. Some pocket knives. A couple of pens. A box of tissues. My phone charger. Loose coins.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/51 "2023-02-17T02:24:14Z")

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If we’re talking **inside** the nightstand: top drawer is where I stash my glasses at night. It also holds a couple of knee braces, a “tactical” flashlight, the remote for the bed and a loaded .357. The bottom drawer has a couple of disposable pairs of slippers I got at a fancy hotel, a watch cap and a couple of .45 autos (unloaded.)

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**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/52 "2023-02-17T03:48:03Z")

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> [@Procrustus](#):
>
> I think it has to do with the former President allegedly using a classified folder to block a blue LED light on a phone on his nightstand so he can sleep better.

That and Elmo had a minor fuss happening over a pic of his nightstand.

On: Lamp and cat.

In drawers: tissue, lotion, earplugs, alarm clock, eye drops, vibrator, phone on charging cord and tablet. Oh and a couple of books and a flashlight. Just in case.

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**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/53 "2023-02-17T04:10:06Z")

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normally phone tablet and a cat who usually nocks everything else off of it

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**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/54 "2023-02-17T04:44:26Z")

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I’m not even going to get into what’s in the drawer (besides my glasses, to keep them safe from the cats.) There are things in that drawer which have been in there way too long, and things in that drawer that I’ve entirely forgotten are in there; as well as a number of things that I use routinely, or at least often enough to remember about them.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/55 "2023-02-17T05:05:19Z")

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> [@elfkin477](#):
>
> my bedroom is both too small and too oddly shaped to accommodate a night stand.

When we slept in a room too small for nightstands, we got some wall mounted corner shelves for our stuff. Of course, that was over 30 years ago and we didn’t have or need so much stuff back then, but maybe something like that could help? (As a bonus, they were too small for our cats so they left our stuff alone).

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**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/56 "2023-02-17T05:11:39Z")

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Chargers, phones/tablets (overnight), tissues, small bottle of water, remote control.

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**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/57 "2023-02-17T07:24:53Z")

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Sometimes I write notes in that dust.😌

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**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/58 "2023-02-17T08:41:10Z")

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A book  
A couple of classical music concert programmes  
My smartphone  
Some hand lotion that my ex gave me at the start of our relationship three years ago  
My Fitbit charger  
Some melatonin pills

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/59 "2023-02-17T13:33:43Z")

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> [@thorny\_locust](#):
>
> I’m not even going to get into what’s in the drawer

Ditto. That’s a long list, and I’d have to look for it to be complete.

I’d consider a shelf you can reach from in bed to be a form of night stand. For that matter, my husband doesn’t have a stand-alone piece of furniture, the top of his dresser serves as his nightstand. He keeps a clock there, and his phone lives there overnight.

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-nightstand/979891/60 "2023-02-17T14:01:33Z")

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Clock radio (though not in use much). CPAP. iPhone. Apple-Watch charger. Use-at-need pharmaceuticals. Glasses.

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