# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/81 "2021-02-06T17:41:21Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > My FIL was a police officer for 36 years. Pulled it once on someone with a knife and never fired it while on duty. Well, someone on the police force is shooting all those poeople. We had a case in Mesa years bck where cops got scared and pumped like 50or more rounds into an SUV, killing two unarmed teenagers. And not to mention Daniel Shaver. Or the 41 shots fired at Amadou Diallo. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2021, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/82 "2021-02-06T17:44:46Z")
On screen, snow is much more highly correlated with Christmas than it is in real life. There will be snow on the ground if, and only if, it’s the Christmas season. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/83 "2021-02-06T17:47:51Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > How about the phrase “And that’s an order!”? I’ve never been in the military, but it seems to me that if a superior in your chain of commands asks you to do something, that’s pretty much an order. > > While I’ve not been in the military, I have been a middle school teacher. When I tell a kid to do something, I mean for him/her to do it. Sure, we can have a discussion if the student has a question, but if it’s “Get out your pencils”, that’s not a suggestion. And on the flip side of the coin I remember a while back we had a thread with a link that purported to translate phrases from British to American and half of them were a variant on a passive-aggressive management “suggestion”, where the boss says something is a “good idea” or “would be nice” but it ought to be understood as “it is essential to your career that you do this”. Most of the Brits on this MB said that that management style was way overblown and far from universal. ---
**Author:** ![motu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/motu/32/259_2.png) [@motu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motu)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/84 "2021-02-06T17:48:00Z")
Have no knowledge of “Married to the Mob” but Henry Hill’s wife Karen makes a similar narrator remark during their wedding dinner _It was like he had two families. The first time I was introduced to all of them at once, it was crazy. Paulie and his brothers had lots of sons and nephews. And almost all of them were named Peter or Paul. It was unbelievable. There must have been two dozen Peters and Pauls at the wedding. Plus, they were all married to girls named Marie. And they named all their daughters Marie. By the time I finished meeting everybody, I thought I was drunk._ from [Goodfellas (1990) - Quotes - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099685/quotes/?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu) ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/85 "2021-02-06T17:57:44Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > And on the flip side of the coin I remember a while back we had a thread with a link that purported to translate phrases from British to American and half of them were a variant on a passive-aggressive management “suggestion”, where the boss says something is a “good idea” or “would be nice” but it ought to be understood as “it is essential to your career that you do this”. Most of the Brits on this MB said that that management style was way overblown and far from universal. In my career as an educator, when the principal asked me to do something, I pretty much took it as an order. The consequences for refusal may not be immediate, but they may come up suddenly when you least expect them. Last year, the principal asked me to choose from either an unpleasant responsibility no one likes, or a slightly less unpleasant responsibility that came with a $1000 stipend. Not choosing was not an option. My wife and I enjoyed the extra grand in the paycheck. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/86 "2021-02-06T18:06:11Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > This is the first thing that came to mind for me too. Someone rushes into another room and says “Turn on the TV!” They do and there’s a news bulletin just starting, from the very top, not midway through as it would be in real life Leaving aside the fact that the anchorperson conveniently waited for you to turn your tv on to begin the report- since the caller never says what channel to turn to the story must be so damn important that every single station must be running the same story at the same time! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/87 "2021-02-06T18:21:08Z")
> [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > I also wonder how the hero can always race just ahead of a slowly expanding fireball after an explosion and come out unhurt. What, no flying glass or other fragments? From the new movie _Shadow on the Clouds_: Chloe Grace Moretz is in the belly turret of a bomber in WWII. She is fighting both a group of Zeros and a gremlin. Because reasons she has to climb out of the turret and crawl upside down on the bottom of the plane (in flight). That works out fine, but after she re-enters the plane from the open bomb bay she gets knocked out of the bomber and plunges towards her death–except at that moment the Zero under is hit and explodes and the shockwave ows her back up into the bimber, where she was fine. (For those who haven’t seen the movie: heck, just go ahead and read the spoiler.) ---
**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:** [February 6, 2021, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/88 "2021-02-06T18:26:14Z")
I’ve never seen 3 adults all riding in the front seat of a 4-door sedan. > [@Tusculan](#): > > …jumping in a stranger’s car and yellig ‘follow that car’. Does this _ever_ happen?n I can assure you it has happened at least once. But It wasn’t a cop. > [@snowthx](#): > > When someone is carrying a bag of groceries, it’s always a brown paper bag with carrot greens, celery, and an unwrapped loaf of French bread visible sticking out the top. For your consideration: [LILEKS (James) :: The Institute :: The Art of Art Frahm](http://www.lileks.com/institute/frahm/art1.html) ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/89 "2021-02-06T18:35:48Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Tidy childbirth over in a few hours and at most two pushes With our first baby, my wife woke up around five, woke me at six, and produced the baby a little after nine thirty. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/90 "2021-02-06T18:42:09Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > To be fair, IT guys are always talking about how easy it is for somebody to figure out a password unless you go to ridiculous lengths to secure them. I once wanted to access a zip file that was password protected. So I downloaded a password cracker program just in case it was solvable before the heat-death of the universe. I run the program, click on the zip, immediately get a message that the password is open. Huh? I thought this was encrypted. Try the zip, yep, needs a password. Try again, same immediate message. It took me a couple of trys to figure out that it wasn’t saying that the file didn’t need a password, the password was the word “open.” and looking at the log file, it had tried several hundred thousand passwords in something like 0.7 seconds, finding it so fast I mistook it for an instant rseponse. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/91 "2021-02-06T18:56:50Z")
Bar or diner patrons that never ask for change or to break a large bill so that they can tip the tender or waitstaff. It’s just pull some cash out the pocket, and leave on the table or bar and go, since whatever they put down is the cost of their order plus 15 or so percent. Extra credit if they eat/drink very little and leave most of the dinner or drink unconsumed. Oh, one more thing. I don’t believe I’ve _ever_ witnessed or heard this IRL: Guy, somewhat world weary, walks up to the bar, orders a drink, usually glass of whisky…short pause…then abruptly states “make it a double!”. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/92 "2021-02-06T19:06:22Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > " For Several Decades Quicksand Was the Most Dangerous Thing on TV and Movie Screens…and Exactly Nowhere Else" Although I’ve never seen anyone stuck in quicksand, I have to observe that you can get pretty badly stuck in thick, deep mud to the point where you need someone else to help pull you out. There was a news story about it last night about an incident right here where I live. And I’m not surprised, because the same thing happened to me when I was a kid. You try to lift one leg out of the mud and you only succeed in driving the other leg deeper. The mud grabs onto your shoes, and you can’t get them out. Both the woman stuck in mud last night and I as a kid lost shoes to the mud. It’s not a life-threatening situation, but it’s still serious. Quicksand properly needs an upwelling of water to keep the sand suspended, and is thus pretty rare. It’s a natural _fluidized bed_ . I learned several years ago how they achieved many “quicksand” effects – they use a “cork tank”, in which a thin layer of crumbled cork floats atop an otherwise normal tank of water. That’;s why people emerging from the nominal “quicksand” are covered with a very nice, clean sheen of water. (It’s also how they did the effects in the old Ouer Limits episode “The Invisible Enemy”). Another way is to have a pan of sand with a sheet of rubber or something underneath, slitted to allow passage through. You can go into the pan through the sand and the sheet underneath parts to let you through (along with a lot of sand). They used this in _The Princess Bride_, among other films. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/93 "2021-02-06T19:12:25Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > With our first baby, my wife woke up around five, woke me at six, and produced the baby a little after nine thirty. My younger sister went into the delivery room around 11:30 a.m. and the baby was born at 12:05 p.m ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/94 "2021-02-06T19:15:12Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > Bar or diner patrons that never ask for change or to break a large bill so that they can tip the tender or waitstaff. It’s just pull some cash out the pocket, and leave on the table or bar and go, since whatever they put down is the cost of their order plus 15 or so percent. I’ve never had to ask for change or to break a large bill in order to leave a tip. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/95 "2021-02-06T19:23:39Z")
Quicksand is a perfect fit for the OP’s condition of something common in movies that _almost_ never happens in real life. [A couple of kids died in quicksand in Illinois](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-05-05-9705050054-story.html), about an hour away from where I lived at the time. I grew up in the 60s and watched a lot of Tarzan and other jungle-based movies on TV, and eight-year-old me considered quicksand the most terrifying thing in the world. I _should_ have been terrified of riding in cars without seatbelts. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/96 "2021-02-06T19:27:35Z")
> [@Borborygmi](#): > > Consumption of Let’s potato chips. Leonard says “they’re a buy!” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JS9zBaBmZxc/maxresdefault.jpg "Snack Food Reviews:Let's Potato Chips") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS9zBaBmZxc) ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/97 "2021-02-06T19:31:10Z")
People having a deep conversation not facing each other, so the camera can get both faces frontally. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/98 "2021-02-06T19:34:23Z")
> [@TheCuse](#): > > I’ve never had to ask for change or to break a large bill in order to leave a tip. Nor have I. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/99 "2021-02-06T19:35:04Z")
Unless they’re driving a car, in which case they’ll keep their head firmly turned toward the person in the passenger seat while talking to them. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/100 "2021-02-06T19:37:00Z")
Exactly! [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=4) [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=6)