09/17/2026
Do what do you keep in your glove compartment?
🚗 Napkins, jumper cables and tweezers: What Lawrence County keeps in the car and why
You can learn a surprising amount about a person by looking inside their vehicle.
Some people are prepared for a flat tire. Some are prepared for rain. Some are prepared for hunger, cold weather, a dead battery, a surprise chin hair and apparently just about any other crisis life can throw at them.
We recently asked LCtoday readers what they keep in their vehicle that has saved the day more than once, and the answers revealed that plenty of Lawrence County residents aren’t simply driving around.
They’re operating fully stocked mobile emergency command centers.
Here are some of our favorites.
🔧 For when the vehicle decides it’s done for the day
The practical crowd came prepared.
Jumper cables showed up over and over, along with portable jump starters, tire plugs, air compressors, toolboxes and other roadside necessities.
Jody Cottingham keeps jumper cables and tire plugs. Erin Elizabeth Johnson carries a jump starter. Vicki Gossman Randles keeps a portable air compressor, while Carol Matthew Hodge has a jumper box that can also provide air for a flat tire.
David Briley went a little farther with a toolbox, jumper cables, scissors and wipes.
Michael Cook keeps a cordless Milwaukee impact in his vehicle, which tells us there are two kinds of people in this world: those who call somebody when something breaks and those who reach into the back seat and start taking lug nuts off.
Then there was Rick Gardner’s answer: “Toe rope.”
We’re assuming tow rope.
But either way, Rick appears prepared.
🧻 The unofficial champion: napkins
If there was one item that absolutely dominated the responses, it was napkins.
Napkins. Kleenex. Tissues. Paper towels. Wet wipes. Baby wipes.
Lawrence County apparently understands one important truth: eventually, something is going to spill.
Katie Flannagin’s vehicle sounds especially prepared. Her list included body spray, fingernail clippers, napkins, straws, plastic utensils, a trash can, snacks, a first-aid kit, an umbrella and a stadium seat.
That’s not a console.
That’s a small convenience store.
Lisa Hughes Muse keeps baby wipes. Karen Reding Hunter said wet wipes are essential with grandbabies around, and Lynn Holland Montgomery listed paper towels, wet wipes and sanitizer.
Several others simply answered “napkins,” which may honestly be the most universally useful answer of the entire discussion.
You may not need jumper cables today.
But somebody is eventually going to hand you a biscuit with gravy on it in a moving vehicle.
🌧️ For rain, ballgames and Alabama weather
Lawrence County readers also appear determined never to be uncomfortable at an outdoor event again.
Blankets, jackets, umbrellas, stadium seats and towels all made appearances.
Vicky Grimes simply answered “Beach towel. Iykyk.”
We do not know exactly what happened.
We are not asking.
Beth White Willis keeps a blanket handy for ballgames, outdoor events or anyone complaining about being cold, while Julia Kathleen Craig Cole carries a jacket, blanket and dental floss — covering weather emergencies and corn-on-the-cob emergencies simultaneously.
Beverly Martin keeps a picnic mat that folds into its own bag.
But perhaps the most creative weather solution came from Ashley Massey Watkins, who keeps a cheap shower-curtain liner in the vehicle. She said it works for wet bleachers and is large enough to sit on or hold over yourself when needed.
Honestly, that one may have converted us.
The next time rain appears five minutes into a Friday night football game, somebody with a $4 shower curtain may be the smartest person in the stadium.
🪥 For personal emergencies of all varieties
There was also an impressive amount of personal-care equipment riding around Lawrence County.
Allison Posey Blaxton keeps deodorant as part of what she called an “emergency refresher kit.”
Shelia Burnett Steadman keeps toothpicks and floss. Hollie Mahathy listed Germ-X, wipes, nail clippers and water bottles. Others mentioned disposable toothbrushes, body spray and spare reading glasses.
And then there was perhaps the most specifically prepared response of the entire thread.
Frances Haynes keeps tweezers in the vehicle “for that unexpected chin hair.”
You know what?
Fair.
There are problems you can plan for, and then there are problems that suddenly reveal themselves in the rearview mirror at 2:17 p.m.
🍪 Snacks, water and the important things
A surprising number of readers also keep food or drinks in the vehicle.
Snacks were mentioned several times, along with bottled water, straws, plastic forks and spoons.
Sandra Rose Terry keeps plastic spoons and forks. Teresa Curtis keeps snacks. Michelle Harville listed bottled water and napkins.
Kimberly Hagood keeps Tums.
Which, depending on what the snacks are, may actually belong in the same category.
Mitzi Trussell keeps napkins, salt and a phone charger, which feels like a remarkably efficient three-item survival kit.
Phone dying? Covered.
Fries bland? Covered.
Ketchup packet explodes? Covered.
🗺️ The “you never know” department
Then we reached the answers that don’t fit neatly into any normal emergency kit.
Vicki June Waters keeps an old-school map of Bankhead National Forest and a spare roll of toilet paper.
That combination suggests somebody who has learned a few things through experience.
Stormey Lawless emphatically nominated zip ties.
Tana Brewer keeps super glue.
Others mentioned scissors, duct tape, tweezers, spare change and flashlights.
Linda Parker Blaxton may have had one of the most comprehensive responses. Her vehicle includes the tag receipt, proof of ownership, Kleenex, an air compressor, the name of a good wrecker service, an ashtray full of quarters, a Bible, Sunday School book, umbrella and spare reading glasses.
That vehicle is prepared for a flat tire, a toll booth, church, rain, paperwork and deteriorating eyesight.
Possibly all before lunch.
Sylvia Thompson’s list went even farther, including a Bible, duct tape, rope, lighters, fast-food napkins, diapers, tools, jumper cables, antifreeze, a sleeping bag, stadium seats and — perhaps most Southern of all — a cardboard church fan.
At that point, you don’t really own a vehicle.
You own a studio apartment with a steering wheel.
😂 And then there were these answers
Of course, a few readers interpreted the question differently.
Niecie Shaunie said the thing that has saved the day more than once is simply:
“My brakes.”
Hard to argue with that.
Matthew G. Jackson chose something even more advanced.
“My wife,” he wrote, explaining that she makes sure he starts hitting the brakes really early.
That may technically qualify as a passenger rather than emergency equipment, but we’re allowing it.
And perhaps that is the biggest lesson from this entire discussion.
If something goes wrong in Lawrence County, there is probably somebody nearby with jumper cables.
If you spill something, somebody has napkins.
If it rains, somebody has an umbrella, blanket, beach towel or apparently an entire shower curtain.
If your battery dies, there are jump boxes.
If you get lost in Bankhead, somebody still has a paper map.
If you discover an unexpected chin hair, Frances has tweezers.
And if absolutely everything else fails, just find Matthew’s vehicle.
His wife will make sure everybody starts slowing down about a quarter-mile before the problem.
