Thank God. Who wants to keep living if you can’t use straws?
I use straws for soft drinks at restaurants and that’s it. I’ve gotten considerable grief over it from my husband, lo these last 21 years, but I ignore him because he only wishes he was slurping up as much fun as me.
But to recap; in restaurants, fast food to go, certain mixed drink (especially if it’s got that cute, tiny umbrella – score!) and malts that are a little melty. Never at home, with a can or water and never for anything hot. Using straws is serious bidness.
One of my pet crackpot theories is that the gene for the ability to drink out of the cup the way God intended is usually carried on the Y chromosome. This is based solely on years of observing that in a group setting most of the women will be using straws and most of the men won’t.
Oooh, I just thought of the exception that proves the rule - yerba mate. It is (literally) the national infused drink of Argentina. Since it is chopped tea/herb leaves dumped directly in a specially prepared gourd then covered with very hot water, one must use a special straw to strain the liquid. Of course , in Spanish it is a “bombilla”, which sounds much more manly than “straw”. I own a mate cup and silver bombilla, but have not used either in years.
I use a straw for two reasons. I want the container closed, so the drink won’t spill and nothing can get into it; and I don’t like the sensation of cold ice against my teeth.
Didn’t used to drink anything through a straw (excepting fast-food sodas in paper cups with the lids on them), but nowadays it seems that most sit-down restaurants I go to put a straw in a glass of any non-alcoholic beverage. Sometimes I toss it, sometimes I drink through it just because it’s there.
Fast food, coffee shop, and food cart type establishments pretty much universally use flimsy paper or plastic cups that are prone to spillage and loss of structural integrity without the traditional plastic snap-on lid. At which point a straw is the only appropriate choice.
Other than that, if it comes with a straw, I’ll use it, and if it doesn’t, I won’t. This is, of course, the only proper stance on this important issue, and any other is madness.
Sir! That is no stance, I say, no stance at all! It’s wishy washy people like you who are the cause of gridlock in Congress (and for that we are eternally grateful).
