I have had the same experience and question. I don’t know why there is so much of it, but have found that blocking any community that is named or references “196” seems to take care of it.
I decided that I was never really going to devote the time to get in on the joke and there was way too much of it anyway.
Costco food court doesn’t seem to have any straws at all anymore, paper or plastic. There are still using plastic lids, but they have a little flap in them sort of like a coffee cup lid that you can sip through.