# Do you own a can opener? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639 "2018-12-05T21:55:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/1 "2018-12-05T21:55:35Z")
Inspired by [Yet another victim of the millennial generation: canned tuna](https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/12/03/millennials-seem-to-have-killed-canned-tuna-is-it-the-can-opener/) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/2 "2018-12-05T21:58:14Z")
Yes I do. That’s how I open cans. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/3 "2018-12-05T21:59:53Z")
To Release the Whoop Ass. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/4 "2018-12-05T22:03:19Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > To Release the Whoop Ass. Huh…all the Whoop Ass I’ve purchased in recent years has had the convenient pop-top. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/5 "2018-12-05T22:06:37Z")
At one time I didn’t but then had a can to open. It wasn’t pretty, so I got one for next time. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/6 "2018-12-05T22:08:42Z")
Tell me again, grandpa, what is a can? ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/7 "2018-12-05T22:10:36Z")
That article is all over the place with no conclusion as to whether or not millennials really don’t own can openers. Or if they just don’t like tuna. It’s getting a little ridiculous with all the blaming millennials whenever sales of something is on the decline. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/8 "2018-12-05T22:13:57Z")
I’ve got an app for that on my phone. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/9 "2018-12-05T22:19:03Z")
I think millennials are less likely to own an iron than a can opener. No shortage of canned goods that even a millennial might want to open. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/10 "2018-12-05T22:19:03Z")
You know those cans with the little metal gripper thing that enables the top to be pulled off, similar to '70s style beer cans? I still use my can opener on those cans. Fuck those cans. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/11 "2018-12-05T22:19:37Z")
It wouldn’t surprise me if my 24 year old son doesn’t own a can opener. You don’t need a can opener to open a packet of ramen noodles. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/12 "2018-12-05T22:48:10Z")
I own many can openers. Why? Well, I open a lot of cans, naturally. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/13 "2018-12-05T22:52:46Z")
For a long time Spaghetti-Os didn’t have the pop tops, so I needed it for them. Now, finally, almost all the cans I get have pull tabs (various soups, beans, and tomato products). I’m just waiting for the beets I buy for pickled beets to be the same way and then I will basically never need it again. Also, canned tuna is nasty. But I loathe the smell and taste of all seafood, so. EDIT: Also, please note that by commonly accepted demographics, the oldest Millenials are about 36. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/14 "2018-12-05T22:54:50Z")
Who doesn’t own a can opener? Canned vegetables and beans are basically staples in my house. ---
**Author:** ![48Willys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/db5fbb/32.png) [@48Willys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/48Willys)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/15 "2018-12-05T22:54:52Z")
Both my 32 YO son & I have P-38s on our key chains & in our wallets. He also has an electric can opener on his kitchen wall. My wall mounted one is manual. For most of the younger folks, a P-38 is a small folding can opener originally issued to the troops so that they could open cans that were issued to them. The can did not always contain food. My family’s P-38s are WWII surplus. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/16 "2018-12-05T22:59:48Z")
I also own a church key can opener. I use it much less than the rotary can opener. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/17 "2018-12-05T23:03:24Z")
I have a manual can opener. I use it only for canned tuna. Everything else that I buy canned has a pull top. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/18 "2018-12-05T23:10:17Z")
We have a manual can opener and a church key. No fancy electric gadgets for this house. 😉 My Gen Z kiddo can use both. As for canned tuna, we don’t buy it very often because none of us like it that much. I think the last can we bought had a pull tab. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/19 "2018-12-05T23:30:14Z")
I have one attached to a cabinet. Very convenient. I have the manual kind too but I haven’t used it since I lived in my old house probably six years ago. I used my can opener several times a week on canned tomatoes, sauce,and paste; on baked or black beans or the handy re-fried beans, occasionally on canned sweet corn although I do prefer frozen, and the occasional can of Spaghetti-Os for my daughter when she needs her comfort food. My 29 year old daughter I know has a can opener and cooks full meals pretty much every day. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/20 "2018-12-05T23:51:13Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > That article is all over the place with no conclusion as to whether or not millennials really don’t own can openers. Or if they just don’t like tuna. It’s getting a little ridiculous with all the blaming millennials whenever sales of something is on the decline. Well, we’ll see if we can get more data, but I am leaning towards the idea that this is simply a matter of wealth. By the time I was born, the average American was no longer eating pickled pigs feet nor SPAM, because we simply didn’t need to. We could sell the off-bits to Mexico and Hawaii. Now, canned tuna is going the same way and we’re all watching YouTube videos telling us how to select local, organic produce. Ye olde invisible hand: Remains invisible unless you know what to look for. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639.md?page=2)