# 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:** 86
**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:** [April 27, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1702 "2022-04-27T13:56:32Z")
When there’s a ransom or drug deal, the suitcase or duffle bag packed full of money is handed over, then the bad guy opens it up, glances at it, and somehow knows in that split second that there’s really and truly $1,000,000 in there. I know this isn’t generally a real-life occurrence but I always wonder about it. ---
**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:** [April 27, 2022, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1703 "2022-04-27T14:46:38Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ymRqYz-Mxnw/maxresdefault.jpg "When You Don’t Know How to Count Money - Key & Peele") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymRqYz-Mxnw) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1704 "2022-04-27T15:40:30Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > then the bad guy opens it up, glances at it, and somehow knows in that split second that there’s really and truly $1,000,000 in there. > > I know this isn’t generally a real-life occurrence but I always wonder about it. $100 bills come in 100-bill straps, so each ‘strapped’ bundle is $10,000. This is a pyramid of, I count 15 ‘straps’, so $150,000. It wouldn’t be difficult to quickly tell there’s a million there. 5 rows of 4 straps each, x 5 layers deep? That’s a million dollars. What you would want to do, rather than count the whole thing, is to spot-check a few straps and make sure they aren’t ‘Michigan bankrolls’ - a stack of singles bookended by $100 bills, or worse yet, newsprint cut to shape in between $100s. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/StrappedCurrency.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/StrappedCurrency.jpg) ---
**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:** [April 27, 2022, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1705 "2022-04-27T22:17:16Z")
> [@solost](#): > > What you would want to do, rather than count the whole thing, is to spot-check a few straps and make sure they aren’t ‘Michigan bankrolls’ - a stack of singles bookended by $100 bills, or worse yet, newsprint cut to shape in between $100s. I hate when that happens! ---
**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:** [April 28, 2022, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1706 "2022-04-28T13:37:48Z")
🤣 🤣 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1707 "2022-05-01T20:47:59Z")
They used to. Pharmacists, I mean. When I was a kid I saw that a lot. Doctors wore them, too. There used to be a turn of phrase for fear of visiting a doctor (may still be in use), “white coat syndrome” , which should now be changed to something like “scrub phobia”. (Nowadays, one seldom sees anyone in a hospital wearing a white “uniform”. You never see nurses in white anymore, either. When I was a young fellow I worked in a health care facility, and even the student nurses wore white.) ---
**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:** [May 1, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1708 "2022-05-01T21:36:03Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > Cars careening over the guardrails and burst into flames as they plunge down the mountainside Friction with the air. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1709 "2022-05-01T22:02:02Z")
That’s a common misconception, but the heating is really caused by the compression of the air by the nose of the car. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2022, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1710 "2022-05-02T03:14:23Z")
And boy, when the temps raise 2º … well, it is a problem with those leaky propane tanks and that open fire pit in the car… (Didn’t you notice that the bad guys foreshadowed that when they were talking about making s’mores as they made their getaway on the Weak Guardrail Serpentine Cliff Highway?) ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1711 "2022-05-02T05:20:19Z")
When I went to business school a million years ago to study medical transcription, we were required to buy white nurse dresses and white stockings. 🙄, To wear while working on typing and shorthand!..flash forward several decades, I found myself in the ER one evening and the doctor who finally showed up had big hair, jangly jewelry, a low cut white blouse, black capris, and gold mules. (I thought, wow, Peg Bundy done went out and got a job! ) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1712 "2022-05-02T05:46:47Z")
The only nurses I’ve ever seen who wore all white, and a cap, with one exception were quite young. The other was a per diem who worked in the peds ward, and she was probably 70 years old, and wore the whole works, starting with the starched white dress. Many, if not most, hospitals, or at least wards, have banned caps, in large part due to infection control, but also because nurses have been injured when a patient tried to pull the cap off, successfully or not. I will say that there are few things classier than a formal portrait of a nurse wearing a cap. Most of my pharmacist jobs had “business casual” as the dress code, although we did have one pharmacist who wanted to wear scrubs, and he was allowed to because he worked overnights. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1713 "2022-05-02T11:33:51Z")
> [@solost](#): > > What you would want to do, rather than count the whole thing, is to spot-check a few straps and make sure they aren’t ‘Michigan bankrolls’ - a stack of singles bookended by $100 bills This can’t happen in lots of other countries, where different denominations are different sizes… > [@solost](#): > > or worse yet, newsprint cut to shape …and colours. [https://cdn.w600.comps.canstockphoto.com/south-african-rand-notes-bundles-stack-stock-illustration\_csp13917663.jpg](https://cdn.w600.comps.canstockphoto.com/south-african-rand-notes-bundles-stack-stock-illustration_csp13917663.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1714 "2022-05-02T13:15:17Z")
What would be the quickest/easiest way to make sure all of the stacks or bundles are legit? Don’t need answer fast. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1715 "2022-05-02T13:36:07Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > What would be the quickest/easiest way to make sure all of the stacks or bundles are legit? Don’t need answer fast I’d suspect the quickest way would be to pull out a few bundles and offer to buy something off one of the guys. “Nice (expensive car) you drove up in. Would you take $xxxxx for it right now?” Banks have bill counters that also detect counterfeits. They could work through a stack in a few seconds. The tabletop models wouldn’t be too much to carry around. But - that might be considered offensive. ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1716 "2022-05-09T14:42:58Z")
Also, it used to be when they wanted to kill someone in a car wreck you’d hear the tires screeching, the crash, and then the horn blaring non-stop. I suppose nowadays airbags prevent the victim from slumping onto the steering wheel… ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1717 "2022-05-13T11:20:29Z")
> [@solost](#): > > $100 bills come in 100-bill straps Well…no, not always. Where I work they’re in $5000 bundles, that is, 50 hundred dollar bills in a strap. Which should still allow you to count quickly. Unless, of course, you get “Michigan bankrolls” (which term I have not heard before, though I have encountered the phenomena, and now I wonder how they got that name). Strap denominations just tell you how much a bundle is supposed to be worth, they’re not actually tied to bill denomination though, of course, a stack of $10,000 in ones would be far too large to wrap a strap around. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I hate when that happens! Yep. Happened to my place of employee a couple years ago - my employer and few other customers were delivered cash via armored car that contained a couple of “Michigan bankrolls”. Eventually traced to a naughty bank employee packing the delivery bags. Seriously - EVERYTHING along the chain of custody is documented and filmed these days. Don’t know why these people think they’re going to get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1718 "2022-05-13T11:50:21Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Unless, of course, you get “Michigan bankrolls” (which term I have not heard before, though I have encountered the phenomena, and now I wonder how they got that name). Good question. I first heard the term years and years ago, and being Michigan born and raised, it always amused me. I did a bit of googling on ‘Michigan bankroll term origin’ just now, and only found definitions, no info on the etymology of the term. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1719 "2022-05-13T12:02:11Z")
Yeah, I googled it, too - found “Missouri bankroll” as a synonym, but nothing on the origin of the term(s). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1720 "2022-05-15T12:58:40Z")
Armored car heists. Films like Wrath of Man, Heat, and The Town make it seem like driving an armored car is like running supplies in an active war zone. In reality there are like 25 to 35 per year in the entire country. Also, most bank robberies consist of the robber handing a note to the teller. They don’t usually consist of half a dozen gunmen storming into the bank wearing matching masks. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1721 "2022-05-15T16:17:47Z")
Have dome lights in cars been mentioned? In nighttime scenes, no one’s dome light ever comes on upon opening the car door. [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=85) [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=87)