# 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:** 83
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1641 "2022-01-13T14:30:12Z")
No, but I did accidentally throw a softball through my neighbor’s window once as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2022, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1642 "2022-01-13T14:45:49Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > No kid in my neighborhood ever hit a baseball through a window. Yours? But give some kids a baseball and a bat on TV… My grandson (11 yo) sent a hockey puck sailing through their window when he was shooting pucks out on the driveway. Then he came to my house and did the same thing when he was shooting pucks in our basement. The basement window nearest the hockey net now has a hinged board over it so it can be dropped down when he’s shooting pucks. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1643 "2022-01-13T17:33:04Z")
People taking aspirin or other meds by chewing them and throwing their head back - no water. Irony is I chew a lot of my meds (like benzos) but most people think I’m nuts. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1644 "2022-01-13T17:47:53Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > No kid in my neighborhood ever hit a baseball through a window. Yours? But give some kids a baseball and a bat on TV… One kid who lived across the street from us threw a _bat_ through the window. He accidentally lost control of it. ---
**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 13, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1645 "2022-01-13T19:55:32Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Yeah, but Indiana Jones only sustained a flesh wound in the left arm. It’s _always_ just a flesh wound. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1646 "2022-01-13T20:15:40Z")
I’ll mention a few that I brought up in the _1883_ thread. These have happened multiple times in either _1883_ or _Yellowstone_ or both. If someone falls or gets knocked down they will hit their head and die instantly. If someone gets bit by a rattlesnake they will die 100% of the time. All it takes to recover from gunshots is to be really tough. Wounds that take normal people months to recover from will heal very quickly if you are a tough guy. If a night time outdoors scene is lit so the audience can see what is going on then the characters in the scene can also see outside in the dark like its a dimly lit room and not the middle of nowhere and pitch black. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2022, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1647 "2022-01-13T21:28:03Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > No kid in my neighborhood ever hit a baseball through a window. Yours? But give some kids a baseball and a bat on TV…- I did when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2022, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1648 "2022-01-13T22:23:46Z")
Yeah, my dad had some level of VA disability because of a dislocated shoulder when he was in the Air Force. Apparently he got caught up in some sort of cargo net obstacle in basic training and dislocated his shoulder. 😬 He was not amused with the idea that he was a disabled vet, considering that his only claim to veteran status was having served concurrently with the Vietnam War, and the only time he left San Antonio during his entire enlistment was to go for branch school in Colorado Springs for six weeks. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1649 "2022-01-14T17:46:55Z")
Good observation on the aspirin thing. They’ll take it dry, or at best with a half-assed sip of water. I don’t know about anybody else, but aspirin will just stick to the back of my throat for ages unless it’s flushed down with multiple big _gulps_ of fluids and maybe a piece of food as well. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1650 "2022-01-14T22:29:05Z")
I haven’t had to drink water to get any tablet down since I was a kid. In my experience, as long as you get it down before it starts dissolving and sticking, it’s easy. (But then again, I’m not chewing any of them) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1651 "2022-01-14T23:04:16Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > I haven’t had to drink water to get any tablet down since I was a kid. Same - I always take my pills dry. However I do not chew them. But I will admit something mildly freakish - I like the astringent taste of aspirin 🙂. I positively adored baby aspirin as a kid. But even now as an adult I’ll let aspirin dissolve in my mouth and savor that willowy bitterness. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1652 "2022-01-14T23:44:52Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Same - I always take my pills dry. However I do not chew them. But if an actor just pops a pill and chews it, that’d be a glaring clue that the actor isn’t swallowing a real aspirin (I’m sure they can’t, what if they need to do twenty takes?). I’m going to watch for this, like the weight and physics of the empty cup of coffee. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2022, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1653 "2022-01-15T00:33:29Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I positively adored baby aspirin as a kid. The orange ones? Me, too. They were pretty much candy. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1654 "2022-01-15T02:13:47Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > I haven’t had to drink water to get any tablet down since I was a kid. In my experience, as long as you get it down before it starts dissolving and sticking, it’s easy. Wish it were so for me, but it isn’t. Aspirins, vitamins, it just lodges itself to the back of my semi-dry lower throat/upper esophogus like a tongue stuck to a frozen flagpole, and feels like it’s much much bigger than it is while doing so until I wash it down with LOTS of fluid, or a little fluid and food. I’ve found watermelon works perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1655 "2022-01-15T02:33:58Z")
I take my nighttime pills with tortilla chips. Hey, a little fiesta before I go to bed! ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1656 "2022-01-15T03:49:57Z")
I had to teach myself to swallow pills by sticking them in pieces of bananas. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1657 "2022-01-15T03:53:51Z")
That’s how I get my dog to take medicine. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1658 "2022-01-18T19:34:25Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Saw an early Kojak (Savalas, not Rhames) and Kojak remarked on the bad guy’s 9mm as a “cannon”. I was like, were they so sheltered in 1973 that they thought a 9mm was “something”? Seen during the US military’s transition from M1911 to M9: _9mm is a .45 on stun._ ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1659 "2022-01-18T19:43:00Z")
Similarly in the 80s and 90s (and happened in real life despite being untrue) was that simple 9mm bullets with a Teflon coating suddenly became “cop killer” bullets that could penetrate body armor, bullet proof glass, and even hit “harder” than normal bullets. Somehow the Teflon increased bullet velocity 5x. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1660 "2022-01-18T19:43:43Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > No kid in my neighborhood ever hit a baseball through a window. Yours? Not at home but at school with temporary classrooms put up a little too close to the ball field. A hot foul ball came through the window showering the girl sitting closest to it with glass. After making sure she was okay – luckily it was tempered glass – the teacher opened the door and waved his handkerchief. “We surrender!” [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=82) [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=84)