# What is extremely common in TV or movies but almost never happens in real life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2021, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311 "2021-02-06T04:16:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 118
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2342 "2023-01-30T14:25:35Z")
Or a majestic møøse? [![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.4263381.1548128534!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_960/image.jpg) ](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.4263381.1548128534!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_960/image.jpg) A møøse once bit my sister. No, really! ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2343 "2023-01-30T15:05:37Z")
Hospitals. I haven’t been to a ton of hospitals, but I have yet to see one looking remotely like the standard issue television hospital. The ones where the patients are in rooms with glass walls with venetian blinds. Never seen that, plus who would want such a dust collector in a room that should be quite clean? Not only the patient rooms, but the doctors’ offices and conference rooms all seem to have glass walls. I’m surprised that the urinals aren’t on glass walls. What gives? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2344 "2023-01-30T15:14:19Z")
I’ve been to one that had the glass walls for at least some of the rooms. I don’t recall if there were venetian blinds - but there are windows/walls where the venetian blind is between two sheets of glass so it never gets dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2345 "2023-01-30T15:15:56Z")
There may be clear glass doors in the ICU, so that patients can be monitored from the nursing station. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2346 "2023-01-30T15:19:18Z")
Someone’s driving, and talking too much to a passenger (often a child in the back), when suddenly _Look Out!_ they are on the wrong side of the road, heading towards a truck! They never actually crash into the truck, but swerve off the road, and may be injured and stranded for some time. I saw two different shows last evening that used this same exact set up. Obviously road accidents are common, and I don’t doubt that this specific flavor does happen. But I think it’s going be far less common than other forms of driver error. I think it’s just a lazy way to script a crash, and also, it’s very much based on the audience’s perspective…that is to say, \*we\* get invested in the car conversation, and then suddenly Boo! A truck! ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2347 "2023-01-30T17:05:04Z")
This naturally happens more on TV because drivers on TV always completely stop looking at the road when they talk to a passenger. In fact, I’m surprised it’s not more common on TV than it is. Even when nothing happens I’m always on the edge of my seat when a TV character is driving and talking to a passenger. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2348 "2023-01-30T17:10:53Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Even when nothing happens I’m always on the edge of my seat when a TV character is driving and talking to a passenger. Especially when talking to people on the backseat and half of the time turning their head back. Nobody with a sane mind does this in real life. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2349 "2023-01-30T17:14:08Z")
Not fully glass walls, but both my wife’s maternity ward room and the hospital room I recovered from surgery both had very large windows with miniblinds. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2350 "2023-01-30T17:36:15Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Especially when talking to people on the backseat and half of the time turning their head back. Nobody with a sane mind does this in real life. About twenty years ago, I went on vacation to Spain with my parents. My dad had lived in Spain as a teenager/young man, and we spent time with one of his oldest friends in Madrid, who offered to drive us around town. He drove _exactly_ like this. Half turned in his seat, one hand on the wheel, talking to us in the backseat. Through the busiest streets in one of the capitals of Europe. Didn’t hit anything. Didn’t come close to hitting anything. No idea how he did it. Never been as scared by a car ride in my life. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2351 "2023-01-30T20:08:28Z")
Yep. IRL, if I need to take my eyes off the road to, say, turn on my foglights, it feels like such a long time. Even though it was actually less than a second, and I picked a moment where the road ahead was clear. Facing people to talk to them is way out of the question. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2352 "2023-01-30T20:12:54Z")
On TV (ads anyway) I see manly men in their manly pickup trucks, off-roading, climbing over rocky terrain, straddling ravines, and generally showing us how tough and rugged their manly trucks are. In real life I see these drivers creeping carefully through construction zones, gingerly driving their truck across the rough pavement lest it get unnecessarily jostled by the uneven surface. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2353 "2023-01-30T20:13:59Z")
I mostly see those pickup trucks in the supermarket parking lot, getting groceries. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2354 "2023-01-30T20:47:19Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Cops and bad guys shooting at one another with snub-nose .38s at great distances. And actually hitting one another. > > Anybody getting shot by a high-powered service pistol or rifle and living long enough to be rushed to a hospital and make a miraculous recovery. In the Old HawaiiFive-0, Mcgarret was resting on a lounge chair by a pool. From a looong distance, a guy with a high powered sniper rifle fired- just missing him. The McG started rolling so the sniper missed his next shot (which makes sense) then McG draws his snub .38 and drops the sniper. You most certainly can do this, as evidenced by modern Military medical care. > [@smithsb](#): > > Can you imagine a 20 foot tall kangaroo? Ha! Almost 9 feet tall, the extinct _Procoptodon_. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I mostly see those pickup trucks in the supermarket parking lot, getting groceries. Yep. Hey, 10 MPG isn’t that bad is it? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2355 "2023-01-30T20:56:18Z")
Friday night fish-fry in NW Wisconsin: [![](https://haywardareachamber.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/slider-2.jpg) ](https://haywardareachamber.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/slider-2.jpg) No one goes home hungry! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2356 "2023-01-30T20:59:24Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In the Old HawaiiFive-0, Mcgarret was resting on a lounge chair by a pool. From a looong distance, a guy with a high powered sniper rifle fired- just missing him. The McG started rolling so the sniper missed his next shot (which makes sense) then McG draws his snub .38 and drops the sniper. Those .38s in Five-O were wickedly accurate, judging from how often they hit their targets 100 yards away. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2357 "2023-01-30T20:59:59Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Yep. > IRL, if I need to take my eyes off the road to, say, turn on my foglights, it feels like such a long time. Even though it was actually less than a second, and I picked a moment where the road ahead was clear. > > Facing people to talk to them is way out of the question. Yeah, at a moderate highway speed of 100 kph (moderate or rather slow at least for the autobahn on which I mostly drive), you make 30 m/s. That’s a lot of distance that goes unnoticed when fumbling on your radio or other controls. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2358 "2023-01-30T21:06:59Z")
When she was five or six, my daughter asked me how you can drive a car without watching the road. (We had some cop show on TV at the time.) I told her they weren’t really driving, they were inside a part of a car a being towed by a pickup with a camera. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2359 "2023-01-31T03:19:49Z")
I could see why a maternity ward would do that - so people could see the baby without actually having to be in the room, for whatever reason. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2360 "2023-01-31T03:21:24Z")
There’s always at least one person in my area of the apartment complex at any given time who parks their “I can’t pay child support” truck in such a way, it’s blocking the parking lot and creates hazards. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2361 "2023-01-31T05:42:45Z")
That reminds me of something that is somewhat common in Wisconsin but have never seen on TV or in movies: bringing one’s minor child into a bar and buying them a beer. In most of the US, AFAIK, minors are simply not allowed into bars at all. Certainly has been the case where I have lived. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311.md?page=117) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311.md?page=119)