Cartoonist Ellis Rosen titles his piece “Junk Drawer.” But that’s just the colloquial and somewhat derogatory name for one of the many containers within a dad’s home that preserves supplies that may be useful at some point in a very indefinite future. And thrifty dads not only keep these undervalued treasures, but also teach young folk the importance of doing likewise. Like the Mike Meyers Saturday Night Live character Middle-Aged Man, dads are heroes that will one day be revered.
A confession: my dad-ness is limited. Although I did snip off and preserve the power cord of a vacuum cleaner after the machine itself died, I don’t have a box dedicated to just old power cords. But I can take inspiration from this comic to change that deficiency.