Two of the biggest sellers of drinks normally consumed with straws are testing out plastic lids that have no hole for a straw.  Steven Masso writes:

Sip on this: McDonald’s is testing new, strawless lids in an effort to reduce the use of small plastics.

The company’s marketing personnel told Nexstar the testing of strawless lids will take place in select U.S. markets. The lids are for cold beverages only.

The other huge beverage vendor heralding the end of straws is Starbucks:

In September 2020, Starbucks announced after a successful year of trialing its strawless lids, that they would be rolled out to company-operated and licensed stores.

Starbucks stated the move was done in an effort to “eliminate one billion plastic straws globally per year.”

Both companies implicitly acknowledge that paper straws are worse than useless. They get wet and collapse when suction is applied, which aggravates customers more than a complete absence of straws (and straw holes) would.

This looming ban on all straws is  motivated by a study conducted by a nine-year-old. Purportedly, marine life is threatened by plastic straws that are discarded into the oceans. But a huge percentage of the plastic waste in oceans comes from a few major rivers in Asia. I think that US plastic straws end up in landfill nearly always. Cute little sea creatures need no protecting from my plastic straws.   

Straws are a small but significant part of our popular culture.

Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in “Love Finds Andy Hardy” 1938 (source)

Learning to drink through a straw is a beloved part of many a childhood, with some kids having a hard time grasping that suction, not blowing, is the key.

No, it’s not the end of the world if we lose the ability to drink through straws, but it is part of a program of harassment, to degrade the quality of life for ordinary people in the name of Mother Gaia, the deity that has been embraced as a semi-official state religion in all too many instances.