Bean Dad Canceled After Letting 9-Year-Old Daughter Figure Out a Can Opener
If you check out this thread that’s been burning up Twitter, you will read a story almost as long as the six-hour ordeal the dad describes, which began when a daughter wanted some baked beans and a father, John Roderick—a.k.a. “Bean Dad”—told her to open a can and heat some up.
The problem?
Said daughter, age nine, had never used a can-opener, and dad decided not not show her. He was busy with a puzzle. He would wait out the whole time it took for the girl (who must not have access to YouTube) to finally, desperately figure out that the dang thing is held parallel to the cylinder and fastens on the lip.
In 23 subsequently deleted tweets, Bean Dad wrote about every frustrated exchange he and his daughter had:
So I said, “How do you think this works?” She studied it and applied it to the top of the can, sideways. She struggled for a while and with a big, dramatic sigh said, “Will you please just open the can?” Apocalypse Dad was overjoyed: a Teaching Moment just dropped in my lap!
We’ll see just how teachable in a moment. His tweets continued to describe the afternoon:
I said, “The little device is designed to do one thing: Open cans. Study the parts, study the can, figure out what the can-opener inventor was thinking when they tried to solve this problem.”…
When the girl finally did puncture the can with the little wheely thing (really, how much do any of us really know about can openers?), she was triumphant, and dad was too.
Then came the commenters.
Like beans spilled on the floor, they were all over the place. Some praised dad for believing his kid would figure it out. Through his tough love, his daughter learned to be resourceful and really earn those beans.
But many others chimed in with less appreciative commentary: “If you are still not convinced this guy is a fuckbag, you may want to consider whether you are not also a fuckbag.” And, “Godspeed, shitgoblin.” And:
#BeanDad, in 50 years: “Sweetie, how do I *wheeze* operate my oxygen tank?”
59-year old daughter: “Well father, consider the respiratory and circulatory systems. Now don’t forget, your fine motor s
