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Sunday, November 16, 2008

Sometimes you just can't win

We went out for dinner tonight due to the fires that seem to be blazing all over southern california.  I know that seems a bit odd, but the smoke has been so thick we spent the day indoors and by the time dinner came around not only were we feeling couped up, but the smoke smell was in the house as well.  Ahhh California in the fall.


Anyhoo, we ordered and I gave them my usual "no straw please" and what do you know, they brought me a straw.  Such is life, sometimes it happens.  I finished my lemonade and the waiter asked if I'd like another or just a water.  I told him water would be fine thinking he'd fill my empty glass with a pitcher but a few seconds later, in came a new glass with, yes, you guessed it, another straw.  Whaddya gonna do.  

I decided I definitely wouldn't be asking for more to drink and finished dinner, excusing myself to use the bathroom as the kids finished their meals.  And what was on the table when i came back?  A brand new glass with, yes, you guessed it, a new straw.

Like the title says, sometimes you just can't win.

dave

8 comments:

Rogue said...

My wife sometimes washes and reuses straws. Outside of that, is there anything that can be done with them or are they just destined for the garbage dump? Anyone have any ideas?

Dave said...

Hey Rogue,
I'm going to be asking the recycling folks this in December when i go but other than that, Im thinking massive craft project?

Dave

Ron Strelecki said...

We love straws. But we are so sick of the wastefulness, that I decided to make a permanent straw. I went to a TruValu hardware store and found where they keep the brass tubes, found a perfect one and bought it for $1.20 (the price was written on in 1990 I'd guess... all the other ones were pricier). At home, I put it in my handy drill press, polished it with sandpaper, and then buffed it with toothpaste. I buffed the interior by rolling up the sandpaper and using wadded up cotton and a stick...

Anyway. Brass straw... $1.20. Good for: one, or more, lifetimes.

Dave said...

Hey Ron,
Wild idea. I know nothing of such things but is brass cool to drink out of repeatadly?

dave

Rogue said...

I'd have the same concern about the metals leaching into the liquids, not to mention the temperature transfer.

I did a bit of googling on it and found a few reusable straws. One variety was glass, which would be a transport nightmare, and another that was clear hard plastic. The hard plastic one would make me wonder about BPA.

Ron Strelecki said...

I thought about this too. Who knows? Brass is a very non-reactive metal. Copper is safe (people cook and eat with it). Zinc is not only safe, but essential. Tin is tin, people have been gulping tin by the ton for a century now. So, the constituents of the alloy don't hint at any danger. If anything brass is more chemically stable than all of the elements that go into it (and therefore less corrosive and reactive).

People have used brass as a substitute for gold for millenia. They use it for fancy food service in India alot. But that's no guarantee of safety. If brass was toxic there'd be a lot of dead trumpet players out there. They spend hours a day slobbering all over it. I can't imagine that the brass will be corroded by frozen fruit (smoothies).

I'm not worried about it.

It's neither here nor there, but that little sleeve of paper they put over straws... how much of a "guarantee" is that?

Dave said...

Hmm, all god points. Brass, hadn't thought of it.

GoSustaino said...

You should have ordered another meal, like a sandwich, and stick all the straws that they delivered in the center. Perhaps that would get through to them :-)