# Things you finally notice in A Christmas Story.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 25, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380 "2011-12-25T22:01:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/61 "2011-12-30T17:39:53Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > They used up all the glue _on purpose_. :smack: I walked right into that one… ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/62 "2011-12-30T17:52:55Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > On the show they just jerked him off the pole. > > Umm … You know what I mean. I don’t remember this. I remember the cops and firemen showing up while the kids were all gawking out the classroom window, but do they actually show them yanking him away? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/63 "2011-12-30T17:55:12Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > I don’t remember this. I remember the cops and firemen showing up while the kids were all gawking out the classroom window, but do they actually show them yanking him away? No, but they show him later with his mouth all bandaged up in a way it wouldn’t need to be if they’d used warm water. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/64 "2011-12-30T18:50:33Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > I don’t remember this. I remember the cops and firemen showing up while the kids were all gawking out the classroom window, but do they actually show them yanking him away? I believe they do show it, in a long shot from the perspective of the kids in the classroom, but I’d have to check that scene again to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/65 "2011-12-30T19:34:09Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > Yeah, he was _crazy_, not _stupid_… This always cracks me up. The old man never gets the credit he deserves. The whole stinkin’ world is there with Ralphie under their nose all day, but only the old man ‘got it’. The old man ‘got it’. He made the little lamp prize into a major award; fixed busted heaters; adjusted dampers screwed up by others;, cleaned out clinkers; beat back crazy dogs; pulled himself off the floor after falling victim to kids’ toys; drug his family out to town on different occasions for a Christmas parade, Santa visit and a tree; he demanded a big tree (Christmas comes once a year after all); decorated it; fixed the fuses; fixed the busted major award; fixed the tire; resolved the lugnut situation; got Ralphie to escape the humiliating pink nightmare costume; got the family off to a Chinese restaurant to save Christmas after the dogs just about ruined it… **The old man got the darn Red Ryder BB Gun** and provided the penultimate part of the movie. Feel free to add to this list all the other things the old man did, because I am sure I have missed some. . ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/66 "2011-12-30T19:42:08Z")
> [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > Nah, listen to it again: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgagC4pUmQo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgagC4pUmQo) > > He’s definitely saying “Scut” Farkus. I’ve always wondered where the kids were going when Scut comes out from behind the fence. It looks like a dead-end! ---
**Author:** ![fireman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@fireman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fireman)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/67 "2011-12-30T20:39:42Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > See post 31. Missed that one! ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/68 "2012-01-01T02:00:06Z")
In the scene where Ralphie has been hogging the bathroom while working the Little Orphan Annie puzzle, Randy runs in to take a dump. When he lifts the lid to the toilet bowl, they cut to an overhead shot of a big pot of red cabbage being stirred. Guess the director didn’t like red cabbage. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/69 "2012-01-01T04:11:05Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > In the scene where Ralphie has been hogging the bathroom while working the Little Orphan Annie puzzle, Randy runs in to take a dump. When he lifts the lid to the toilet bowl, they cut to an overhead shot of a big pot of red cabbage being stirred. Guess the director didn’t like red cabbage. First time I saw the movie I thought that was still a shot of the toilet for a second. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/70 "2012-01-01T05:29:19Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > This always cracks me up. The old man never gets the credit he deserves. > > The whole stinkin’ world is there with Ralphie under their nose all day, but only the old man ‘got it’. > > The old man ‘got it’. > > He made the little lamp prize into a major award; fixed busted heaters; adjusted dampers screwed up by others;, cleaned out clinkers; beat back crazy dogs; pulled himself off the floor after falling victim to kids’ toys; drug his family out to town on different occasions for a Christmas parade, Santa visit and a tree; he demanded a big tree (Christmas comes once a year after all); decorated it; fixed the fuses; fixed the busted major award; fixed the tire; resolved the lugnut situation; got Ralphie to escape the humiliating pink nightmare costume; got the family off to a Chinese restaurant to save Christmas after the dogs just about ruined it… **The old man got the darn Red Ryder BB Gun** and provided the penultimate part of the movie. > > Feel free to add to this list all the other things the old man did, because I am sure I have missed some. > > . How bout “weaving a tapestry of obscenities”? That seems like it would take great effort. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/71 "2012-01-01T05:32:37Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > I don’t remember this. I remember the cops and firemen showing up while the kids were all gawking out the classroom window, but do they actually show them yanking him away? Yes they do. It’s a pulled back scene but you can clearly see his head being supported by a fire fighter and then when it’s yanked his head slightly snaps. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/72 "2012-01-01T05:38:09Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > No, but they show him later with his mouth all bandaged up in a way it wouldn’t need to be if they’d used warm water. Bandaged? I always thought that was ice! ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/73 "2012-01-04T00:24:35Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Bandaged? I always thought that was ice! I’d think the last thing he’d want on his tongue after that would be ice. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/74 "2012-01-04T14:29:25Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I’d think the last thing he’d want on his tongue after that would be ice. Always looked like a huge layer of (fake) frost to me. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380/75 "2012-01-04T15:12:54Z")
> [@Uncommon\_Sense](#): > > How bout “weaving a tapestry of obscenities”? That seems like it would take great effort. I’d say it would take great effort because _ **He worked in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay. It was his true medium; a master.** _ You know those profanities as far as we know are still hanging in space over Lake Michigan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-notice-in-a-christmas-story/607380.md?page=3)