This Starbucks Safety Notice on Straws
From an RHUer:
Saw this safety notice at my local starbucks today. I'm wondering how I managed to survive childhood without having been warned that straws could poke my mouth.
Posted by Freddy on Saturday, August 27, 2016 | Permalink
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Comments (7)
First time I've heard of stainless steel straws - and imagine they'd do a bit more damage than stabbing yourself with a plastic straw.
Posted by: Bookboy | Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 11:02 AM
Let's see, I've jabbed myself with a straw in the following areas: both of my eyes, my nose, up both of my nostrils, the roof of my mouth, the insides of my cheeks, my gums, my teeth, my tongue, my chin, and one time, my uvula. Trying to take a drink and the driver slams on the brakes, not good. DX
Posted by: labyrinthgirl17 | Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 11:03 AM
To be fair, can you wash these stainless straws? Starbucks reuses them, or the clients can reuse them? Are they cost-effective? Otherwise, can't see any real advantage besides the environment against plastic, non-stabbing straws...
Even if they're only used in-store, it's still a great risk if some kid ends up dropping the drink or playing and making someone else get stabbed.
Posted by: Herpetarium | Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 12:29 PM
They're for 'Cold to go' drinks, Herp, so they're not used just in the store. They're permanently attached to the lid, and presumably the lid is removable, so you could wash it.
Plastic straws are more liable to damage, with their thinner sides, like a paper cut; this thing, if you manage to cram it up your nose (which I've done too, Labyrinthgirl) unless you catch it just right, it's probably smooth on the edges and thicker, less likely to dig in.
Posted by: TechTyger | Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 12:39 PM
Oh, BTW... searching Amazon for 'stainless steel straw' comes up with 400 pages, so these aren't exactly new. :P Probably some kid did something stupid.
"I'm not saying let's kill all the stupid people. I'm saying let's remove the warning labels and let the problem sort itself out."
Posted by: TechTyger | Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 12:40 PM
In the early 90's I picked up an aluminum straw at Pier 1 Imports. I thought it would be great for thick homemade chocolate malts. No more collapsing plastic straws when trying to drink the malt. The first time I used it, the metal straw froze to my lips. I quickly ran water over the straw and my lips at the sink. I never used the straw again. I don't drink through metal straws ever.
Posted by: Jofur | Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 08:04 PM
They're not permanently attached to the lid, there's just a lip near the bottom that is too big to come out of the straw hole. If you take the cap off the straw comes out the bottom, you just can't yank it out the top.
And Labrynthgirl's experience is pretty much the only thing I could think of while reading this that would actually cause an injury more serious than a momentary 'oops, ouch'. A straw is not going to cause lasting injury unless some outside force is applied. In which case it is not the fault of the straw, but the fault of the braking/accelerating car or head/cup-slapping sibling. Plus, if enough outside force is used to cause lasting injury, I'm pretty sure a plastic straw would do almost as much damage. Sure, they CAN bend, but if it doesn't already have a structural weakness it's not going to bend right away and will still jab you pretty painfully at first.
Posted by: datawog | Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 08:12 PM