# 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:** 95
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1882 "2022-08-23T19:30:38Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > They still have orphanages in Alaska? All those moose babies who lost their parents to car crashes have to live somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1883 "2022-08-23T19:31:21Z")
Probably every state still does - they just call them “group homes” now. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1884 "2022-08-23T19:35:27Z")
I thought that the current process was to get such children into foster families as soon as possible. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1885 "2022-08-23T19:38:41Z")
It is - but there are never enough foster homes especially for older kids. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1886 "2022-08-23T19:46:26Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > I don’t know the details, but one of my coworkers tells a story that starts with a road kill deer, and ends with “and that’s why I have a felony conviction for poaching.” > > To tie it back to this thread, if told right, I could see such a story in a sitcom. It’s not an “extremely common” example, but there was an episode of _ **Doc Martin** _ in which a couple was harvesting roadkill with the inevitable health risks that entails. IIRC, the good doctor reported them to the authorities when he learned of it. In some novels of Carl Hiaasen there’s a hermit (“Skink”) who lives on roadkill. I don’t know if anything like this has ever been dramatized, but it would make one hell of a show! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1887 "2022-08-23T19:48:24Z")
I haven’t read the whole thread. But every time I see this thing on TV I mean to come here and post. Meanwhile the thread has grown to hundreds of posts. Maybe someone has already mentioned it. Running after and calling out the name of a person who is walking, running, or even driving a car away from the shouter. > “Bob! Come back! Don’t leave me!” \<_runs after Bob_\> > > “Mary Lou, you come back here right now!” \<_runs after Mary Lou who is driving away_\> > > “Don’t you walk away from me, Joe!” \<_Joe keeps right on walking_\> Hint: they **never** stop and they **never** look back. They may or may not ever _come_ back. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1888 "2022-08-23T19:49:53Z")
There’s also the person walking off while the car or building behind them blows up. Somehow they seem to know that they don’t need to hit the ground to avoid flying material and have no interest in seeing the explosion. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1889 "2022-08-23T20:06:03Z")
Last time I was there they did. Of course, that was 30 years ago. But I’m pretty sure they just started sending the meat to food banks or other public service agencies. Otherwise anybody with a beater truck would be moose hunting on Spenard Blvd. each winter. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1890 "2022-08-23T21:32:10Z")
This was a fairly common lesson in the 1990s. Nowadays, some places use a Baby Think It Over, programmed to cry at random times, and yes, the teacher can tell if it was neglected in any way, and I can always tell when it’s BTIO weekend because teenagers will be carrying dolls around with them. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1891 "2022-08-23T21:36:08Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > In some novels of Carl Hiaasen there’s a hermit (“Skink”) who lives on roadkill. I don’t know if anything like this has ever been dramatized, but it would make one hell of a show! Is this the character that was a former governer of the state? Or am I confused? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1892 "2022-08-23T21:37:55Z")
Sounds like the neighbor didn’t like him either! In Iowa and Illinois, it can vary from county to county and even town to town. One town in my area even allows bow hunting in a large city park, during a very restricted time period, which I realize is not the same as legally using roadkill. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2022, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1893 "2022-08-23T22:18:08Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > There’s also the person walking off while the car or building behind them blows up. Somehow they seem to know that they don’t need to hit the ground to avoid flying material and have no interest in seeing the explosion. Andy Samberg and pals did an SNL skit _“Cool Guys Don’t Look At Explosions”_. Ever since then, I yell at characters: > [@me (when wife isn't home)](#): > > **Dude! It’s a cool fireball, check it out! Your grandkids are going to ask you what it looked like!** And there was a film I just saw where afterwards, they discovered that a major character was a ways away, but had been killed when he got hit with a chunk of the exploding car. So follow my lead, young padawan. Take shelter or hit the dirt, but then swivel so you’ve got a good view of the awesomeness. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1894 "2022-08-23T22:44:16Z")
Hi ! I did that in 10th grade for my Parenting class. We had raw eggs that we had to care for. Mine was named Julian, after a character in a VC Andrews novel. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1895 "2022-08-23T22:48:02Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > We had raw eggs that we had to care for. In my school, the project lasted for several weeks. Didn’t they start rotting? ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1896 "2022-08-23T22:49:59Z")
Dunno. I didn’t break mine. 😉 They probably did, though. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1897 "2022-08-23T22:54:39Z")
No such discussion is complete without a _Buffy_ link. > **[Bad Eggs (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Eggs_(Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer))** > > "Bad Eggs" is the twelfth episode of the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was written by Marti Noxon and originally aired on January 12, 1998. Buffy must contend with vampire cowboys, the Gorch brothers and the bezoar, a prehistoric parasite. > Buffy and her mother Joyce are shopping at a mall when Buffy notices a vampire leading a girl into a closed arcade. Buffy fights off the vampire who is later found to be a semi-notorious vampire named Lyle who travels with his brother Tector. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1898 "2022-08-24T00:03:50Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > This was a fairly common lesson in the 1990s. Nowadays, some places use a Baby Think It Over, programmed to cry at random times, and yes, the teacher can tell if it was neglected in any way, and I can always tell when it’s BTIO weekend because teenagers will be carrying dolls around with them. In fact, they backfired, as the people who used them realized that they could in fact handle parenting. As such, it didn’t reduce the incidence of teenaged pregnancies, as it was intended to do. > **[Surprise! Fake babies actually make kids think teenage motherhood is awesome](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/giving-teenage-girls-baby-simulator-increases-odds-pregnancy/)** > > A new study found that infant simulators increase teenage girls' odds of getting pregnant. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2022, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1899 "2022-08-24T00:09:57Z")
Yep, the only Governor of Florida who ever resigned the office. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2022, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1900 "2022-08-24T02:56:28Z")
When my daughter was in high school 15 years ago, they had robotic babies that had varying degrees of issues. Hers was a preemie with drugs in its system. It cried non-stop. My daughter eventually took the batteries out but the baby told on her. She had to spend 2 days at a real daycare to make up for it. She’s never wanted kids. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2022, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/1901 "2022-08-24T02:59:30Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Legitimate question, not flippancy: Is the shooter allowed to bring home venison (or any other game meat) in a case like this? > > Just curious. - In Oklahoma, the warden will ask you if you want the meat and tag it for you so you can take it to a processor. If you don’t want it, the coyotes will take it. I’ve hit 4 deer. [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=94) [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=96)