Consumerist eds, is the level of misogyny in the comments of this post really acceptable? Calling this woman a whore and trailer trash and so on is unbelievably gross.
@bailey08: I'm sorry for all the abuse in the comments. You don't deserve that.
]]>Oh and one more thing, Please quit saying i live in Kentucky because I don't!!
]]>I just want to say I am the mother from the story and I would really like to know why you all care so much about what I do to protect my daughter.You find so much humor in all this I would hate to know what your kids are like.And also when I talked to WSAZ I told the news man I DIDN'T want to be on TV but he said he thought I had a heck of a story and he wanted me to go on the news to stand up for it.That's the only reason I was on TV.Because I was very ticked over the whole situation and I wanted them to know and other people to see how important places like Wal-Mart really think their customers are. It's not like I begged him to put me on there. All I wanted was the straws off the shelves and a little respect.And as far as whatever else was on my receipt,I am 8 months pregnant! I crave alot of different things so I always make sure I have them! My little girl is happy and healthy and has no idea what this was all about.I just think it's bull they put something you can buy from some sex store in a bag of straws for children.If I'm dumb,stupid,crazy,or whatever else you have said for trying to keep stuff like that away from my little girl, then oh well. Say whatever you want but I'll keep protecting her from as many things in this mostly twisted world we live in for as long as I can!
]]>No, she can't just laugh, set it aside, say "what a silly shape" to her daughter and then use it for fun with her husband...no, like a typical trailer trash Christian freak-head, she has to get herself on television and have a pissy party.
Well, congrats to her, she has found a whole new market for the manufacturer - adult novelty stores.
Wal-fart should probably not be the target of her irre - their child slaves probably didn't shape them.
This is a classic case of trailer trash female versus trailer trash corporation though - gotta love it.
On a more positive note, it also does show that consumers, no matter how ridiculous they are CAN get a news crew to cover their story.
Some other thoughts:
I wonder if other trailer trash females will sue claiming discrimination because there were no "femaile" shaped straws, lol. I'm sure the lesbians will find these straws very offensive lol.
]]>I went to Walmart last night and found them, went to register with a few more item and tried to check out and was met with "This sale is restricted!" on the register. So I could not purchase them. The cashier looked into it and told me that they were made in China and probably full of lead. hehehe
No straws for me.
]]>Phallic shaped straw? Give me a break, its a freakin' rocket ship. The mom probably hasn't had any in awhile and is seeing phallic shapes in ordinary items...or she wants her fifteen minutes of fame and some extra money.
]]>You know, at first I thought this woman just had a dirty mind... however, in a discussion on another site about this story somebody posted this site selling penis straws:
(2nd row/2nd column) You have to admit, they look identical, and these are actually being marketed as dick-shaped straws.
]]>Kids probably wouldn't even know that's a penis shape unless it was pointed out to them.
I doubt anyone in the chinese factory recognizes that as a penis either.
]]>Please, please, please! Language! It's a shuttlepenis.
]]>Those are not as bad as if you typed in "penis straw" on google. Now those are bad...
]]>Thank you, I'm here all week.
Tip the veal, try your waitress.
]]>What phallus? It's obviously the head and arms of the Virgin Mary! As soon as I can buy some, they'll go on sale on eBay. Look for them in the morning. Am I offered $2000 for the right to buy the first Virgin Mary straw?
]]>@speedwell: FYI...you can be a cock-deprived whore. It's actually the lowest level of whore-dom
]]>the really sad thing is, since we live in the same state, it's her vote that is going to cancel mine out.
]]>@Antediluvian: Oh, the sporting goods section!
I hope she doesn't see the shuttlecocks.
]]>(Their friends will tell them that for sure).
Attention-whore. If she would be younger, she'd be doind Big Brother # something.
]]>And for the love of God, please keep her away from the garden hoses!
Oh, and bananas. And sporting goods. Oh, the sporting goods section!
]]>I hope no one tells her how regular straws are actually urethra-shaped or she'll try to have those removed, too.
]]>@privatejoker75: I'm sure the ineffable irony of calling someone a whore and, in the same breath, implying they don't get enough cock isn't lost on the rest of us.
]]>This country fucking baffles me. It's a twisty straw. Maybe if this whore got more actual cock in her life, she wouldn't be seeing it in a straw
]]>Or, more likely, I would have convinced my unsuspecting mom to buy them for me, and then bragged to my friends that I tricked my mom into getting them.
]]>Wait, you can't imagine a kid wanting a pear-shaped straw, but you can imagine a kid wanting a dick-shaped straw?
]]>@iambeaker: She bought radiator fluid, candy, pop, cake, and other "nutritous" food for her and her kid.
I bet she got those wacky straws so she could get her daughter to drink the radiator fluid. :p
@JeffMc: Wouldn't Freud say that sometimes a straw is just a straw?
I dunno, Freud was kind of obsessed with dicks, and obsessed with what people who didn't have dicks thought of dicks and so on - ya know, the whole "penis envy" theory and all... :/
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What gets me is - ok I can sort of understand why she might want to call the WalMart and complain, but when did she make the decision that she should alert the news? It's not like the newsfolk overheard this on the police scanner; this woman must have called the news herself. That's the nutty part if you ask me.
]]>I don't know which is better, this woman's ridiculous overreaction or the borderline misogynistic comments suggesting that a good dickin'll set 'er straight!
This comment may appear twice, so enjoy it double.
(Also companies already make novelty penis straws, I discovered this at a recent bachelorette party. They are much more obviously phallic than these.)
]]>And some of you who made some pretty crazy assumptions, remember, others can come on this site and make some pretty asinine assumptions about people here.
My take on the what will happen to other families. Hopefully it would inspire some good conversation between parent and child.
]]>I don't know which is better, the ridiculous overreaction of this woman or the borderline misogynistic comments suggesting that a good dickin'll set 'er straight!
]]>Wal-Mart gets the customers they deserve.
Anyway, it's not a phallus, it's the Bell Labs logo.
]]>I look forward to your rambling nonsensical reply.
]]>That said, her "what's going to happen to other families?" comment is priceless. Clearly, vaguely penis-shaped straws are the greatest threat the American family has ever faced.
]]>The scary thing to me is that this "young mother" (an issue in itself) will probably be eligible to vote in a Presidental election. Her vote counts the same as anyone else's who could be intelligent. No wonder we have Bush/Cheney, a trillion dollar war, the Walmartization of America, real estate equity meltdown, recession, unchecked corporate criminality, and the thousands of "legal" scams cited on this website.
Boy, I'm glad this "young mother" is making me safer from phallic straws, rocket straws, squiggly straws, or whatever the silly thing is. Wouldn't you want a toddler to learn to drink from a conventional cup or glass ? Silly me.
]]>Educational and cultural purposes, you? Oh that's right, I am here to study how Americans have nothing to do but to go and complain on consumerist about other people's comments. Dude, relax and have a nice day. Everywhere you go there are smart people, and then there are not so smart people. Who you are, depends on your actions. Prove me wrong if u can, prove me wrong and then I will change my mind. of course, doing that is beyond your capability so let's just not talk about it as facts speak for themselves. Have a nice day American.
]]>Man, she is ballsy! Pretty cocky too!
]]>Even if this female is a Darwin Award finalist, her point is that the straw is not appropriate for children. I agree. It's bad enough to have abstinence-only preggers-ed but now we have practice toys. Ewwww. Save it for Spring Break.
]]>I think we are all missing the point here. Did you see some of the stuff she bought on her reciept? She bought radiator fluid, candy, pop, cake, and other "nutritous" food for her and her kid. I think that phallic shaped straws is the least of her concerns.
P.S. It irritates the hell out of me when kids drink from straws on TV... Don't know why..
]]>@ClankBoomSteam: Totally!
]]>I think the straw looks like a pear or a squash. But now I have an idea for a great new adult novelty!
]]>Rick Warren (books), your days are numbered.
]]>"You know, I would never make something up like that, especially about my little girl."
...huh? I thought we were talking about straws, here.
]]>Just put the straws next to the vibrators they sell, and they will be fine.
]]>@Onouris:
No, I don't believe that anyone not from America is European, but the poster to whom I responded has said he is from Europe.
And I certainly don't have a problem with Europeans. I just didn't see why he needed to call this woman an "American dumb female". He can disagree with her opinions (and I do as well) without denigrating her nationality.
]]>This woman must have a vivid imagination and the newsman is having a slow day..I am not a walmart fan but this borders on ridiculous,
]]>@DeltaPurser: She's just thinking of her daughter, who umm... I don't know, has to wait until she's older to learn the difference between boys and girls? Think of the children!
@cjdmi: You know, there's a quiz called Sex Toy or Baby Toy? Try to look at any baby toy the same after that.
]]>@BayStateDarren: Got Milk?
]]>Phallic? I think it looks more like Dolly Parton!
]]>Not only do you apparently believe that if someone isn't American they must be 'European' (because obviously no other continents exist), but you also actually believe there's such a thing as a 'European' person.
I'd be embarrassed, I honestly would.
]]>I personally am going to stop by and see if I can find some of those straws myself - I think they'd make great gag gifts - without the shame of going into an "adult" store.
]]>@Techno Viking:
Hey annoying European male, what are you doing here if you have such a low opinion of America?
Corporate: Well, sales of the Tricky Dickie line slowed, so we just tried to cut our losses.
]]>The WSAZ closeup photos of the straw say "click to enlarge."
]]>Hello Walmart customer service.
Yes, thank you i'll hold.
Hi. Yes i'm here.
I would like to know if you have any dick straws available.
@joemono:
I knew that SOMEONE had to comment on Bill Murray. It's an awesome addition to the story.
@Trai_Dep: Nothing, that's what!
@faust1200: She's bought into the story that it's the (I'm not Yank bashing when I say this) it's the US Government's job to protect her and her children from EVERYTHING. Sad, really. Kids are in for a helluva shock when they find out that's just not true.
]]>BWAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!
I just got home from a miserable night at work to see this!
Thanks COnsumerist... you just made me laugh! I needed that.
]]>Sounds like this lady needs some penis rather then worrying about the alleged penis shaped straws. Really people, will walmart have to pull hotdogs and bananas because they just might resemble a penis? Is it China's masterplan that the straws turn Americas youth into raging homosexuals? No, it's just a straw nuff said.
]]>Candy Pops
Fruit Punch
Mountain Dew
Chocolate Syrup
Pop Tarts
Chocolate Frosted something or other
Yikes. Forget penises, this woman should concern herself with childhood diabetes...
]]>For me, the first image to pop to mind was my kid's baby toy key ring. It's got 5 plastic keys with different colors and shapes. Of course now I have to destroy one of the keys...
]]>Because any sane person would not view straws as a penis. But apparently in her mind, even a pen or a pencil is a nice long sexy penis. She needs a good spanking by her family or by her husband.
]]>;P
Morons procreating. Loooovely
]]>Kentucky mother + Wal-Mart + phallic straws = lololol
]]>I love those straws, I want some
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@Cliff_Donner: too funny! :)
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I read the article and it doesn't say who she called at Wal-Mart. If she simply called the local walmart where she got them, I can understand why the employee she spoke to might have thought it was a joke. Seriously, when I was a kid, in the days before *69 and caller ID, this is exactly the kind of crank call I might have made... I once called a construction company with the word "Erection" in their name and left a message that I was really offended.... sad thing is I did that when I was 22, because the cable was out and I was bored.
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This makes me want to find out how these straws are made, :) I wonder if there is a "How It's Made" on these wacky type straws.... I'm thinking there has got to be a CAD pattern or something and they just put those instructions into the machine somehow telling it what directions to bend the plastic... or something like that... and some CAD guy slipped a dick into the patterns...
~
you shouldn't be using those strws anyway if one is truly concern parent, bet ya it leaks BPA
And besides, the shape isn't a problem, I mean dogs has to eat those shapes everyday or starve, not that they mind [consumerist.com]
]]>Beside the fact this comments don't seem to work in firefox beta 4. I would place this as catagory STUPID, sometimes shapes happen that nobody really thinks about. Get over it, and move on. It is a silly straw, I am sure that when they made it they didn't go "lets make a penis shape". It sounds like some religious fundmentalist that has lot of time on her hands. No offense to Christians but come on.
]]>Oh - they pulled these straws huh? just like they pulled the Nazi t-shirts, right?
]]>You BET I take it seriously. And personally.
]]>Of course, she could still throw them out. By her words "it's all she can think about". Are the straws really the problem?
]]>Don't really know how the purchasing division missed that one, I mean, I would expect this kind of item from a Spencer's, but Wal-Mart?
]]>(I FFed through the video - I don't care what she has to say)
]]>oh no the straw looks like a penis, whatever will we do? the world is going to end!
]]>I mean c'mon...anyone with a working set of eyes can clearly tell that's genitalia-shaped...
or maybe rocket-shaped...
or maybe Gloop and Gleep shaped...
that's it...
Why are people hating on Herculoid straws? :(
]]>hahaha, what a ridiculous individual! all this woman did was tip her cards to what a dirty mind she's got. those straws were far from looking like obvious male anatomy.
]]>I can understand how this could have been totally innocent and unfortunate on the part of the toy manufacturer. I'm normally the type who gives the utmost benefit of the doubt. But gee, they do look way too much like a... I mean, the straw leads right out the tip... I just can't help it, this time it really does look like what the poor dirty-minded woman thought it did.
]]>