That is why the waiter took them away. Wome seem to interput what I said as why some are taking away paper menus, not what I meant

Most of the time the only reason is there is just no room on the table for the menus to be kept.

There are a few places (usually burger joints) where the menu is a piece of paper that actually serve as a placemat that the waiters won't take back from you. I doubt a lot of people are changing their mind. I've rarely seen that.