The Last Straw

The other night I was at dinner when the waitress brought our sodas. She forgot to put down the straws. No one touched their drinks. A minute later, she returned and put a few straws down. Everyone picked one up, put it into their drink and took a sip. Then I thought to myself, why do we have to use a straw in a restaurant. When we have a drink at home with our dinner, we just sip it from the glass. No one would think of getting a straw to put into the glass. Who made a straw the standard way of drinking a beverage in a restaurant?