# That was disappointing **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 23, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-disappointing/256553 "2004-07-23T18:34:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-disappointing/256553/1 "2004-07-23T18:34:33Z")
I drove into work this morning, having survived the usual assortment of total morons which plague Atlanta’s roads. I had the guy who tailgated ma at 75 mph, while the lane to my left was totally clear for him to get around. I had the van that came to a complete stop on an Intersate for no apparent reason. As I said, the usual assortment. But this got me. Not that the driver was a moron. Actually, I was impressed by his manuvering skill. I turned onto the road where the complex I work in is located, and on the road about 100 yards ahead is a semi (articulated lorry for you all across the pond) making a u-turn. I come to a complete stop, as my drive way is on the other side of his trailer… just like everything else on the road. I’m watching this truck driver slowly execute his u-turn, and I think that it would only end in on of two ways: either we’ll be sitting here for an hour as he goes back and forth turning his big-rig around, or he’ll get jackknifed. Must to my surprise, and this driver’s credit, he completes his u-turn. I watch him start to accelerate, and the rear bumper of his trailer catches the fire hydrant on the side of the road, and -pop- it rips and bounces on to the street, right in front of me. (as I started to get closer when he completed his turn.) My car wasn’t damaged. So what was the disappointment? you ask. No water came spraying out of the hole where the hydrant once stood proudly. That would have been cool. For what it’s worth, after I parked my car, I went to the street, and dragged the hydrant out of the road, so no one would hit it. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-disappointing/256553/2 "2004-07-23T20:15:48Z")
You’re a better man than me. Certainly, I would’ve removed the hydrant from the road. But if I were that close to my parking lot, it would’ve been stood upright next to the car of someone I didn’t like, and the authorities promptly notified. 😃 Gotta agree, though…I too would’ve been disappointed if I saw a hydrant ripped from the ground and a 30-foot plume of water didn’t appear. Did movies lie to all _again_?? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-disappointing/256553/3 "2004-07-23T20:23:49Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > You’re a better man than me. Certainly, I would’ve removed the hydrant from the road. But if I were that close to my parking lot, it would’ve been stood upright next to the car of someone I didn’t like, and the authorities promptly notified. 😃 I thought about it… until I actually started moving it. Those suckers are heavy. I would guestimate it weighed 100+ pounds. The scary thing is that the hydrant accross the street is also no longer attached to its base. Good thing we haven’t had a fire. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-disappointing/256553/4 "2004-07-23T20:33:00Z")
Yes, movies lie. The way they keep fire hydrants from freezing in wintertime is that they don’t have water in them; the big nut you turn on the top to get the water going actually goes all the way down to the water main, and the hydrant is otherwise empty. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-disappointing/256553/5 "2004-07-23T21:02:28Z")
That _is_ really disappointing. If I can’t trust my movie car chase facts, what _can_ I trust? I bet next you’re going to tell me that there _aren’t_ always a group of nuns crossing the street in the middle of a police chase. And personally, I probably would have put the hydrant in my car and brought it home. Luckily, I don’t have a dog. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-was-disappointing/256553/6 "2004-07-23T21:10:26Z")
Tell me about it, **Draelin**. If I’m ever in a high-speed police chase, I better see: [ul] [li]A narrow alleyway filled with empty cardboard boxes[/li][li]Two guys carrying a large sheet of glass[/li][li]A fruit cart[/ul][/li]I’ll also accept an area of road construction that can be used as a ramp, but only if it’ll launch the _entire_ car, not just send it into a barrel-roll.