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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Yesterday, Trump brings back plastic straws - "I'm sure the sharks munching their way through the ocean will just munch them."

202 replies

100A · 14/02/2025 14:47

'Bring back the plastic straws' was another declaration he signed yesterday with a flourish of his Sharpie pen, flanked by the usual obsequious officials and a bigly map of the Gulf of Mexico America (which is is now 'fact' according to his spokeswoman).

You see, the sharks are just there, happily munching along in the ocean, so they'll just bite through the plastic straws because they have very sharp teeth, after all.

People are getting so used to the freak show, this kind of thing doesn't even raise an eyebrow anymore. AIBU to wonder how America is going to ever regain any credibility? We have 4 more years of this!

OP posts:
ayvasili · 15/02/2025 08:03

I actually wonder What happened to paper straws... When I was young, we had paper straws on our juic boxes, even Capri sun. They had a pointy end that would Pierce the foil dic and were strong enough to chew on and last for us to drink out drinks and also suck on for hours later pretending we were sucking cigarettes. Why are paper straws now so flimsy they melt before you are finished drinking your drink?
I use metal straws now with a silicon topper that I can nibble on as I still like to chew on my straw!

Acommonreader · 15/02/2025 08:37

mumofoneAlonebutokay · 14/02/2025 15:02

Im supposed to carry metal straws around on the chance I buy her a carton of mango juice?

It is an issue and it's bloody annoying.

Show quote history

Yes exactly that. We carry metal straws in a small case ( like a make up bag) . We all got used to carrying reusable carrier bags when the free single use ones stopped .This is another small change we can make.

w10mum3 · 15/02/2025 09:11

Zanatdy · 15/02/2025 06:35

One thing that has shocked me from videos on instagram etc is the amount of American’s eating off paper plates. Here we are in the UK happily sorting our rubbish into recycling, trying to use less plastic when the US doesn’t care at all. It’s quite shocking really.

I'm American, and like others on this thread, have only eaten off of paper plates at barbecues and picnics and the occasional child's birthday party. I've also lived in three states, all of which have had strict recycling, including food waste collection.

w10mum3 · 15/02/2025 09:12

JHound · 14/02/2025 14:53

He is focusing on the big issues I see.

I keep envisioning his fleshy orange anus lips turning white with effort, clamped for dear life around a disintegrating/exploding paper straw now as he desperately tries to suck up that last ounce of Diet Coke.

Willoo · 15/02/2025 09:15

Paper straws are terrible and I wish plastic straws would come back here. There are far worse things out there for the environment

mikado1 · 15/02/2025 09:26

RingoJuice · 15/02/2025 04:38

Maybe they only did that while you were a guest in their house idk but it’s not normal

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Well it was normal for them, that's what they did and do each day. I couldn't believe it (they're my friends cousins, she's been there before and since).

nodramaplz · 15/02/2025 09:46

I hate paper straws! Have to have 3 with every drink!
I reuse my plastic one,

nodramaplz · 15/02/2025 09:49

JHound · 14/02/2025 14:53

He is focusing on the big issues I see.

Big & small
It's called "getting shit done"!

Uk is run by wimps who has everyone else interest at heart except the people of the UK- we are only useful to give them money to pass out of the country then BEG for pay rises we are entitled to, only then to hand over most of it in tax and NI
Make it make sense!
Uk people and uk SHOULD come FIRST

suburburban · 15/02/2025 09:52

Or make your own drink in a reusable bottle

No reason to use plastic straws

suburburban · 15/02/2025 09:54

AnxiouslyAwaitingSpring · 14/02/2025 15:57

@JHound I am a source! I've lived in the US & can attest to this. Absolutely every bloody thing is plastic. All the people I met there and whose homes I visited, used paper plates even when having guests over and yep, the laminated kind. Whenever I got Taco Bell it came in a plastic bag with plastic cutlery which was in a clear plastic sealed bag. They also allllll seem to use disposable gloves in the kitchen, even if just making a sandwich for example. Many US states don't have a recycling collection either (some do but most don't or didn't when I was there) so it's not the norm to have a separate recycling bin. Everything gets thrown out

It is awful and I always hated this aspect when I went there

StandFirm · 15/02/2025 09:55

100A · 14/02/2025 14:47

'Bring back the plastic straws' was another declaration he signed yesterday with a flourish of his Sharpie pen, flanked by the usual obsequious officials and a bigly map of the Gulf of Mexico America (which is is now 'fact' according to his spokeswoman).

You see, the sharks are just there, happily munching along in the ocean, so they'll just bite through the plastic straws because they have very sharp teeth, after all.

People are getting so used to the freak show, this kind of thing doesn't even raise an eyebrow anymore. AIBU to wonder how America is going to ever regain any credibility? We have 4 more years of this!

If it was truly just 4 years I wouldn't mind quite so much but I think by then the world and especially the US will have changed beyond recognition - at the very least politically speaking.

RedHelenB · 15/02/2025 10:16

nodramaplz · 15/02/2025 09:49

Big & small
It's called "getting shit done"!

Uk is run by wimps who has everyone else interest at heart except the people of the UK- we are only useful to give them money to pass out of the country then BEG for pay rises we are entitled to, only then to hand over most of it in tax and NI
Make it make sense!
Uk people and uk SHOULD come FIRST

Show quote history

And you truly think that billionaire trump and take taxpayers money sitting on your arse as a MEP farage give a shit about the " common man"?

mumofoneAlonebutokay · 15/02/2025 10:23

littleblackcat247 · 15/02/2025 05:45

You're stupid - HTH

I've got an idea that just might work. Don't use any straws ever!!

Also - Americans don't all eat their food off laminated dsiposable plates. What a load of old bollocks.

This whole thread is chockablock with entitled idiots - really. How did humanity cope in 1700 when there were no straws, no cans of fizzy drinks, no fast food full of shite??

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Do calm down, no need for name calling

If you want to live like you're in the 1700s, then do so 🙄

Humanity has moved on since then, and sometimes we want an unplanned drink, which requires a hygienic - one time use - straw

mumofoneAlonebutokay · 15/02/2025 10:25

Acommonreader · 15/02/2025 08:37

Yes exactly that. We carry metal straws in a small case ( like a make up bag) . We all got used to carrying reusable carrier bags when the free single use ones stopped .This is another small change we can make.

Show quote history

They're gross, sorry

If I left a metal straw in my car for the random occasions I'd need them, they'd rust and collect germs.

The orange man is a bad man but he's right here

gatheryerosebuds · 15/02/2025 11:15

NattyTurtle59 · 15/02/2025 02:29

Are you saying you used plastic bottles of water? Madness. Here restaurants give you bottles and individual glasses, all made of glass.

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It was somewhere where the advice was not to drink tap water.
I also wondered why restaurants can’t provide huge catering sized bottled/non tap water which they can then decant into glass bottles

WaitingForMojo · 15/02/2025 11:20

Quinlan · 14/02/2025 15:06

Yes. Because you’re a parent and she doesn’t like paper straws. It really isn’t difficult.

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It is difficult. Because as an SEN parent everything is bloody complicated and difficult. You have to remember a million things that you can’t leave the house without, covering all eventualities, to avoid the day becoming completely pear shaped. The straw is just one more in a long list of things that drain your energy and make life an arse. A paper straw in a plastic lid ffs.

Not the point of the thread, but you have no understanding and you’ve annoyed me.

WaitingForMojo · 15/02/2025 11:24

Acommonreader · 15/02/2025 08:37

Yes exactly that. We carry metal straws in a small case ( like a make up bag) . We all got used to carrying reusable carrier bags when the free single use ones stopped .This is another small change we can make.

Show quote history

I didn’t. I still buy the bloody bags for life r wry single time I go shopping and have a cupboard containing hundreds of them. I know others the same. I don’t have the executive function to remember (ADHD).

Jeansandfleece · 15/02/2025 11:37

MissTrip82 · 15/02/2025 07:21

I mean you can see it’s popular.

I’m never sure why people are having such wide exposure to paper straws that they can be enraged by then. Surely a takeaway milkshake etc is an occasional treat, and one that many (not all) can enjoy without
a straw at all?

Edited

Because the rare time I encounter a straw it’s in something like a cocktail that I want to enjoy.

RingoJuice · 15/02/2025 11:37

littleblackcat247 · 15/02/2025 05:50

Trash in developed economies is generally well managed, so your plastic straw is not gonna go in some turtle’s nose.

I hate to let you know, but trash in developed economies as you put it is quite often shipped to developing countries and dumped. It is not well managed. So no - you can't blame other countries.

…. yeah you sell them your ‘recycling’ when you should just be putting it all into landfills or burning it as they do in Scandinavia.

SnoozingFox · 15/02/2025 11:40

ThejoyofNC · 14/02/2025 14:50

Have you ever been to a fast food restaurant in America? Plastic cups, plastic lids, plastic cutlery, plastic food containers, plastic bags. At least 3x the plastic per meal than we use over here, without a doubt. Why on earth would a paper straw make a difference?

He's right in that paper straws are shit.

Absolutely - we were in New York last year and remarked on it as it's so difference from over here. The one thing I really noticed was that every shop had plastic umbrella sleeves at the door, people would take a sleeve, put their brolly in it, leave the store, discard the sleeve, repeat process at every shop. That's just not a "thing" here at all.

soupyspoon · 15/02/2025 11:46

WaitingForMojo · 15/02/2025 11:20

It is difficult. Because as an SEN parent everything is bloody complicated and difficult. You have to remember a million things that you can’t leave the house without, covering all eventualities, to avoid the day becoming completely pear shaped. The straw is just one more in a long list of things that drain your energy and make life an arse. A paper straw in a plastic lid ffs.

Not the point of the thread, but you have no understanding and you’ve annoyed me.

Show quote history

I agree, I mean I dont know how big handbags/bags are meant to be that we're carrying round

Everything is just 'pop it in your bag for when you're out' or similar with the car

To the degree that Im carrying the equivalent of a drawer full of stuff in the bag to the degree I cant find anything in there, same with the car, pots of this, cases with that, rolling around the car.

floppybit · 15/02/2025 11:48

Sinkintotheswamp · 14/02/2025 15:05

I'm not sure I've ever litter picked a straw in the streets or at the beach.
We banned plastic straws over here too. Such a random thing to ban.

We need to ban cigarettes first, they are a massive litter problem.

Totally agree that cigarette butts are a huge problem

Theunamedcat · 15/02/2025 11:49

mumofoneAlonebutokay · 15/02/2025 10:25

They're gross, sorry

If I left a metal straw in my car for the random occasions I'd need them, they'd rust and collect germs.

The orange man is a bad man but he's right here

Show quote history

They don't rust easily and they are not gross paper straws and wood cutlery are gross

mumofoneAlonebutokay · 15/02/2025 11:51

Theunamedcat · 15/02/2025 11:49

They don't rust easily and they are not gross paper straws and wood cutlery are gross

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A paper straw wrapped in plastic casing is at least more hygienic 😭

I've no issue with others using reusable straws but I don't like the idea of having one sat in my car or bag