Hi, You should know me. You used to like me as a kid, you used me every chance you got. And even when you didn’t want to use me, you were made to use me or a variant that served the same purpose I served. My name? Straw. Yes you heard me, Straw! the variants of me that served the same purpose I served? Cups in whatever form or size.
You were not allowed to drink straight from the bottle as a child, it was just bad manners. However, you are all grown up and would not want to be seen using me not unless I’m in some fancy cocktail glass. However, being seen using my variants, the ones that perform the same functions that I perform has not gone out of fashion.
So I sit and think to myself, why have you forgotten why it is NOT OK to drink straight from the bottle or can or whatever? Because cool as it may seem sometimes, it is still bad manners irrespective of your age. Another thing this particular bad manner does is expose you to the risk of deadly infections.
You see, the bottles and cans and what have you were stored somewhere before they were purchased and before they get to you as the final consumer. These warehouses tend to have rodents and insects like rats and cockroaches. Some of these rodents are infected with deadly diseases like Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) which has a very high mortality rate and is transmitted through the saliva, droppings or urine of infected rats.
These droppings may not be visible, but they are there. The only question is…Are the droppings, urine or saliva from infected rats or not. Since you can never really tell, and since you may not always have the opportunity to wash a bottle or can or whatever before consuming its content, your best bet, the one that stops you from sharing bodily fluids with a rat for example, is to use me or my variants. It is advisable to always wash a bottle or can before you consume its content. It might seem like too much hassle but it could be the thing that prevents you from contracting some unwanted disease.
It is good manners and you also protect yourself from preventable pain and suffering when you don’t consume food/drinks straight out of its container especially unwashed ones.
So, Hi I’m Straw, can we get re-acquainted? There is however the issue of making sure I have been kept in an air tight constantly closed container where there is no chance of contamination by these unwanted creatures.