I havent used any type of straw in quite some time. Plastic or paper.
They do nothing for me and I think they are one of the most pointless disposal food packaging items to exist.
Edit: there are many useful applications for straws I simply didn’t think about when posting this. Thanks for the commenters for pointing this out.
I don’t… like them. Does anybody actively like them? Quick poll, does anybody here pop a can of coke or a glass of water and deliberately go find a straw to put in there?
As far as I can tell straws exist either to drink something too thick to reliably pour out of a glass rim, like a smoothie or a milkshake, or to cirvumvent some limitation, be it accessibility or having to extract liquid from a sealed vessel.
By the same token, who here just brings a large, wobbly paper glass up to their face in a dark movie theatre and tries to repeatedly sip it?
I do. I almost never drink something without a straw. But for me, it’s due to medical issues. Straws make my life easier.
For soft drinks, I would use a straw. Anything else, no. I’m not a fan of how they feel on my teeth and using a straw helps mitigate that.
They’re also a vital part of the bubble tea experience.
Water, in particular, feels like it tastes very weird through a straw. Maybe because it’s so neutral, but the mouthfeel of it changes so much with the vessel and straws just make it seem like someone is powerwashing your mouth to prep you for surgery or something.
It’s not the worst, and I bet the people in this thread reporting that they need straws for mobility or other medical reasons don’t think about it that much, but I think I’d default to flavored drinks if I had to use a straw by default.
I guess I did forget about milkshakes or smoothies. Those do have a solid use case.
Boba? I don’t even know what the “point” would be without a straw tbh
That’s just soup at that point. And to be fair, a boba straw is in the spork continuum anyway.
Bottle of pop. No
Glass of water at a restaurant. Yes
My hands shake and it’s annoying as hell when people stare at me when I’m trying to drink. So I get a straw.
Sure, but then you’re in the accessibility scenario. It’s still a utility thing.
Yeah I guess for boba tea they’re useful. Also if you whiten your teeth and are worried about staining them.