# 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:** 73
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1441 "2021-07-02T02:31:22Z")
There was a true crime story I read where a woman reported her husband missing as he had gone on a solo fishing trip at the nearby ocean and hadn’t returned home in 12 hours. While the Coast Guard still had helicopters in the air and boats on the surface looking for the boat just 24 hours after last living sighting the wife was already spotted at a local cemetery asking about tomb stone prices. That raised some red flags. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1442 "2021-07-02T02:38:09Z")
Back in the day, if the paralysis did not go away, the person almost always died in a very short time. Para- and quadriplegics did not live on for years or even decades, the way they do now. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1443 "2021-07-02T02:43:45Z")
Someone’s date/boss/mother-in-law is coming over for dinner and to hide the fact they can’t cook they buy some local fast food and put it in their own dishes to try to hide the fact they didn’t make it. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1444 "2021-07-02T02:54:27Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Back in the day, if the paralysis did not go away, the person almost always died in a very short time. Para- and quadriplegics did not live on for years or even decades, the way they do now. Back in the day, a when you got pneumonia after taking to bed, you died. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1445 "2021-07-02T02:55:40Z")
And if you didn’t die from that, you probably died from bedsores, bowel obstruction, and/or a urinary tract infection. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1446 "2021-07-02T07:16:52Z")
[Memo to self: read _whole_ thread before posting a duplicate] ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1447 "2021-07-02T11:05:33Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > That is actually not so ridiculous. I was in a store once, near my office in a rough neighborhood. There were gunshots outside - as the store employees were rushing to lock the doors to keep the shooter outside ( it pretty obviously wasn’t the first time this happened) , customers were trying to beat them to the door to get out and see what was going on. And that’s why there’s a grave in Riverside Cemetery in Asheville memorializing a man who was [killed by a desperado.](https://www.reddit.com/r/CemeteryPorn/comments/acdtpk/killed_by_a_desperado_riverside_cemetery/) The story as I heard it: There was a shootout on Eagle Street in Asheville back in 1906 (over a woman IIRC). Mr. Addison was a shopkeeper who heard the shooting and stuck his head out the door at the wrong time. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1448 "2021-07-02T17:03:04Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > That is actually not so ridiculous. I was in a store once, near my office in a rough neighborhood. There were gunshots outside - as the store employees were rushing to lock the doors to keep the shooter outside ( it pretty obviously wasn’t the first time this happened) , customers were trying to beat them to the door to get out and see what was going on. In Thailand during Black May 1992, when there were some serious civil disturbances and a harsh government crackdown, some of the heavy rioting took place just a block from the backpacker enclave of Khao San Road. A Swedish tourist walked over to look and got his head shot off. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2021, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1449 "2021-07-02T20:04:09Z")
Someday I’ll tell you about the crowds that gathered outside the Russian White House during the putsch attempt of 1993. There were some camera-toting tourists who looked like they were out for a Sunday stroll. They hit the ground real fast when snipers opened up with AK-47s. (I know because I was there too.) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1450 "2021-07-03T03:58:39Z")
Kitchens with doors. How many people have doors on their kitchen doorways – I’ve never seen that. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1451 "2021-07-03T10:54:33Z")
I’ve lived in several houses which were old enough to have kitchen doors. I’d guess anything before 1950? ---
**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:** [July 3, 2021, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1452 "2021-07-03T16:38:28Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Kitchens with doors. How many people have doors on their kitchen doorways – I’ve never seen that. When I was growing up, our kitchen had two doors. Five if you counted the basement, attio, and outside doors, plus doors on the two rooms leading to it. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2021, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1453 "2021-07-03T19:09:30Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > attio Is this a typo for either “attic” or “patio,” or is it a real thing, possibly a combination of both? ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1454 "2021-07-03T19:46:49Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > I’ve lived in several houses which were old enough to have kitchen doors. I’d guess anything before 1950? - All of the older houses that I’ve lived in have either had their kitchen doors removed or turned into swinging doors. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1455 "2021-07-03T22:50:55Z")
I’m not talking about outside doors, though. I’m talking about doors like bedroom doors. Mostly are just doorways. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1456 "2021-07-03T23:08:05Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I’m not talking about outside doors, though. I Yes, two of the houses I’ve lived in _also_ had kitchen doors at the back, with an outside door. And one of the houses I’ve lived in actually had a separate building (for fire risk). But when I wrote ‘older than 1950?’ above, I was thinking of kitchen doors off of the common living areas, like the door between the kitchen and the dining room. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1457 "2021-07-03T23:31:39Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I’m not talking about outside doors, though. I’m talking about doors like bedroom doors. Mostly are just doorways. Which is, of course, why I stipulated first that two of the doors were inside doors. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1458 "2021-07-03T23:32:47Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Is this a typo for either “attic” or “patio,” or is it a real thing, possibly a combination of both? Typo for “attic”, of course. A combination Attic and Patio sounds nice, but not in our neighborhood. In fact, it’d be nice somewhere tropical, ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1459 "2021-07-03T23:57:20Z")
@NetTrekker You may find this of interest. > **[Accidents Outside Combat Take Toll on U.S. Military](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jan-04-na-mishaps4-story.html)** > > Writing to his mother from Iraq in early May, Lance Cpl. Matthew R. ---
**Author:** ![half-elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@half-elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/half-elf)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1460 "2021-07-04T04:38:08Z")
I am just catching up with this thread, so apologies for addressing this point several months later, but I have to point out that people most definitely do swim underwater with their eyes open. Cite: my childhood, mostly. [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=72) [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=74)