A rival shows its face.

For those who don’t know, the cup on the right has been stuck in that sewer drain since at least June 2006. That’s the month I started tracking it. Finally, in February this year, I took pictures and posted my first story about it.

A week later, I posted again, with more pics (including closeups to determine its origin).

Still not able to shake the thought of this cup’s sheer power to hang on, I mounted a rescue attempt (video included).

The cup that accompanied it for a few weeks in February is long gone, but a new contender has shown itself. The one on the left, whose only distinguishing characteristic here is the depression of its lid’s “Other” button, is putting up a good fight. It first appeared in late March and, along with Blue Straw, this young pup has survived a few torrential downpours — one of about three inches in a few hours.

Some reading this site have posited that drainage patterns might not direct much water to the cups. I was willing to go with that, but judging from the difference in detritus between February pics and this latest image, I beg to differ.

Regardless of all that, I still consider the idiots who threw these cups out in the first place. Here is a shot I took of a cup in my cup holder.

Cup in Holder

It dwarfs a cup from our kitchen. Usually one to order water with his meal, I felt like having something sweet and chose Fanta Orange. When I saw the size of the cup, I asked, “Is there any way I can get a smaller drink with that?”

“Not in combos one through six,” the Whataburger window lady answered.

Ridiculous. Still, although I didn’t particularly want to dispose of this monstrosity, I never considered tossing it into the street.

Now the question is, do I let the two cups in the top photo battle it out, or do I retrieve and dispose of them properly? Can one be busted for aiding and abetting litterbugs? Are any cops reading this?

Of course my curious mind wants to leave the corpulent containers to their own devices. After all, Blue Straw has only a month to go before it breaks the one-year mark. That seems like a perfect time to grab it, wash it up, and memorialize it somehow.

Well, at least to grab it, anyway. I wouldn’t want anybody to think I’m obsessed.

Continue reading the saga here.

To keep everyone abreast (ahem) of this saga, I’ve created a page especially for Blue Straw. It’s in the page link tabs at the top of this page, but you may also get to it by clicking here.