Even that can be looked after. My BIL’s best man came in from overseas. Too early and it would be an extra hotel expense; too late (i.e. night before) and neither one of those guys would be in shape for a wedding the next day. As it turned out, the bachelor party was on a Wednesday night, both of them got sloshed, I was the designated driver, and they got to visit about four pubs on the pubcrawl they wanted to do.
As the designated driver, I drank a lot of Coke that night, while the guys overdid it. Both of the guys were hurting the next day (were they ever), but both were just fine a few days later for the Saturday wedding.
I think this is more common in older movies: walking up to the front door of a private home, knocking or ringing with no response, discovering the door is unlocked, walking in, calling out, and if there is no response, wandering around the house looking for whoever is there.
If someone did that in my house, I would assume home invasion or attempted burgling and act accordingly.
It was a more innocent time; on the other hand trespassing in an upcountry rural area was depicted as likely to get you a load of buckshot in the seat of your pants.
Similarly, scaring people away by shooting rock salt at them. Granny on “The Beverly Hillbillies” did it from time to time and I think I’ve seen it other places as well.
And of course, it could be lethal so hopefully it doesn’t happen in real life.
True life example for me -
the bachelor party was a few weeks before the wedding, but the groom broke his leg,
Or rather - the best man broke the groom’s leg by tackling him.
THAT must have been an interesting conversation with the bride…
No – those were business associates who had the bad fortune to be around when Goldfinger wanted to brag about his plan to rob Fort Knox. Getting rid of them simultaneously tied of loose ends and let him get away with not paying out several million dollars in gold bullion. But these guys didn’t work for him. At worst they were someone else’s minions.
(Bond: I did enjoy your presentation.
Goldfiunger: (wiping eye) So did I)
My father was born in 1922. He could remember when people in his hometown started putting locks on their doors. The old-timers were appalled at the idea. “What if we are out, and someone comes by, and needs food? They might starve!” In cultures with a low population density, hospitality is a sacred obligation.
When you approached a farmhouse in the countryside, you would shout “Hello, the house!” to let people know that you were not a bandit. If there was no answer, you were free to cook yourself a meal. You were expected to clean up after yourself. As soon as you were able, you were expected to return and give back at least as much food as you had taken.
In order for a thief to fence stolen goods, he needs anonymity. That is not possible in a rural area, where everyone knows everybody else, and everyone knows what everybody owns. So the old-timers were less afraid of theft, and more afraid of hunger.
The expectation was that the miscreants would be running away, so you would be shooting at them from the back, and unlikely to put an eye out. The salt-filled cartridge probably had a smaller-than-normal powder load, so the risk of lethality was significantly reduced.
It was intended to be a form of corporal punishment for unruly teenagers.
Threadjack: “Despicable Me 4” is coming out later this summer, and the minions have a commercial where they get together for a cookout, and outdo each other with their tricked-out grills until one of them finally brings one that fires a ray which bisects the moon.
Afterwards, the cooked hamburgers rain down on their plates.
I grew up in small town Minnesota (pop ~1000) in the 1960s and 70s. We didn’t have a key for the front door. Sometime after I moved out, the folks put in a new door with a lock and a key they could locate.
We live in a time warp neighborhood. And were discussing how often we lock our doors (with many people saying “Well, we’re careful. We lock up at night…”).
One neighbor looked at her husband and said “If I locked the door, how would you get in?” And he said “Do you even know where a key is?” “No, I know we were given one when we bought the house…” “…Thirty years ago!”
I’m sure it was mentioned somewhere here. I was flipping through and I saw someone taking bets on a fight. Just one guy surrounded by many people yelling at him and throwing money at him. Then after the fight he somehow had to figure out who bet what without any betting slips and no apparent system of any kind.
In fact I have performed at least one industrial accident report that involved slipping on a banana peel. Even more unbelievable, I restrained myself from adding “a custard pie to the face was not a contributing factor.”