Who Knew? Multi-Purpose Pasta

Where have I been?  

How is it that, I,  "lover of all things coffee and coffee-related," did not know that pasta is now being used as a biodegradable, earth friendly form of stirrer?

I went into my local micro-roaster for a bag of delicious-ness, also known as Mocha Java, and was offered a free cup with my purchase.  I said, "Sure!"

I walked over to the bar to add my one packet of raw sugar and a tiny splash of fat-free milk,  reached over for a stir-stick and was surprised to find that there weren't any.

I noticed a cup with long sticks of something - maybe 'honey in a straw?'  

Not wanting to show my ignorance, I hesitated to ask what the heck it was.  Finally, not seeing any spoons, I said to another customer at the bar, "Is this a stirrer?"  He said, "Yes, it's (something which I didn't catch and couldn't pronounce).  So, I proceeded to stir my coffee.

Finally, as I walked out of the shop, I stopped and turned to the barista and said, "These stirrers - they look like pasta.  What are they called?"

To which, the barista replied, "fettucini."

I was worried that it would make my coffee taste like pasta.  Which I guess is better than the alternative - which would be to have my pasta taste like coffee.  Seems to do the job.

What will they think of next?