Faux Life: Things That Happen On TV But Not In Reality

[kiddo82]

Has anyone actually slapped the back of a cab twice to alert to the driver to pull away putting a friend or loved one in said cab?  And if so, did you do it slowly and with this melancholy look on your face?

Edited July 21, 2018 by kiddo82

[Mittengirl]

Every adult on TV knows their IQ score.  To the best of my memory I have never taken an actual IQ test; if I have, no one told me my score.  Am I the only adult in existence for whom this is true?

[Annber03]

Nope. That's the case for me, too. I haven't a darned clue what my IQ is or would be. 

[Nordly Beaumont]

23 minutes ago, kiddo82 said:

Has anyone actually slapped the back of a cab twice to alert to the driver to pull away putting a friend or loved one in said cab?  And if so, did you do it slowly and with this melancholy look on her face?

Nope, I guess I always thought cab drivers knew when to drive all on their own. TV drivers maybe missed that day in cab driving school.

10 minutes ago, Mittengirl said:

Every adult on TV knows their IQ score.  To the best of my memory I have never taken an actual IQ test; if I have, no one told me my score.  Am I the only adult in existence for whom this is true?

I worked in the attendance office in high school and I have a vague memory of seeing IQ scores on our records. I have zero memory of ever taking the test.

[Bastet]

35 minutes ago, Mittengirl said:

Every adult on TV knows their IQ score.

They also all remember their SAT score.  Even if high school was 40 years ago, they went to college and graduate school after that, and have been working ever since.  Although now completely irrelevant to their life, if the subject comes up, they can rattle off that long-ago score.  No one ever says, "Um, I don't remember; I remember getting accepted to all the schools I applied to, so I guess it was good."

For some characters, it makes sense -- someone who was obsessed with getting into a prestigious university, spent months on end preparing for the SAT, took it multiple times to see if they could score even higher, etc. is going to have that final number stick in their mind -- but not all of them.

[Jacqs]

clothes for school dances on G-rated high school sitcoms are a lot lower budgeted than real life. You also never see a girl trying to look like a Barbie Doll with a thousand push-up bras. There's also nothing like that incident in California of a photo taken during the prom of a boy grinding into the girl and resulted in the school's students being warned by the police that they could be charged with possessing child p*rn if they kept or spread the photo.

[kiddo82]

Quote

They also all remember their SAT score. 

I always liked the episode of NewsRadio where Lisa and Dave take the SAT's again as adults.  It worked for the character because Lisa was a nut like that.  (I think she was jealous of him because he had gotten a great score when he was in school and she was being competitive or something.  I haven't seen it in forever.)  I remember my SAT score only because it was my kinda goal score and I got it on the first try.  Then I took them again just to see if I could better it and ended doing worse in both sections.  Que sera.  Unless you're going for a real competitive school I can't imagine it matters immensely.  Years later I had to take a state licensure exam for my physical therapy license.  No IDEA what that score was.  Only that I passed.  

 

ETA:  Just dug the episode out because it was bothering me.  Lisa wants to take the test again because she wants to see if she was as smart as she was in high school and she just signs Dave, who didn't do so well the first time, up as well.  Still to the point that someone like Lisa would definitely remember her SAT score.  Dave said he remembered doing poorly because it kept him out of Stanford.

Edited July 22, 2018 by kiddo82
Accuracy matters

[biakbiak]

I was just at a party and all the adults remembered their score, it came up because one of my friends got roped into proctoring one at the end of August and is missing a camping trip. 

[auntlada]

I don't remember my SAT score, but I remember my ACT score. It was important because I got a scholarship for it.

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

Every adult on TV knows their IQ score.  To the best of my memory I have never taken an actual IQ test; if I have, no one told me my score.  Am I the only adult in existence for whom this is true?

I'm pretty sure these are the same fictional people who can remember phone numbers and addresses rattled off in the heat of a chase or gun battle. They also have an uncanny ability to know the correct spelling of a name of someone that they have never heard before, which is also rattled off quickly, often slurring the name.

[SVNBob]

10 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

Has anyone actually slapped the back of a cab twice to alert to the driver to pull away putting a friend or loved one in said cab? 

Cab, or other professionally driven vehicle?  No.  But I'm pretty sure I have done something similar to a vehicle a friend was driving away.  A tap-tap-salute kind of thing as a final farewell.

[Katy M]

15 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

Every adult on TV knows their IQ score.  To the best of my memory I have never taken an actual IQ test; if I have, no one told me my score.  Am I the only adult in existence for whom this is true?

I used to work somewhere where this guy was constantly bragging about his IQ.  I forgot what it was.  But, one day he left the room after telling us how oh so smart he was, and I made the comment to everybody else (who was presumably as sick of it as I was) that for someone who is so much smarter than the rest of us, he's still stuck doing the same job we are.  He was also always telling us how brilliant his daughter was.  She was probably like 5.  Somewhat less annoying, but I'm just hoping he didn't instill that arrogance into her.

[Raja]

16 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

Has anyone actually slapped the back of a cab twice to alert to the driver to pull away putting a friend or loved one in said cab?  And if so, did you do it slowly and with this melancholy look on your face?

Not a cab specifically, but I do that. I probably picked it up from TV not from alerting a horse.

[shapeshifter]

18 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

Every adult on TV knows their IQ score.  To the best of my memory I have never taken an actual IQ test; if I have, no one told me my score.  Am I the only adult in existence for whom this is true?

In Sacramento in the 1990s when I managed to rent a house that just barely qualified geographically to at least get my high schooler into the bad school with the good program for smart kids, unfortunately that left my 8-year-old in a "Chapter One" school—which I was told by the administrator was "a really good kind of school; I would be happy to have my child there," but which is actually a remedial curriculum for those who are achieving below grade level.
So.
While my youngest child learned some useful things about getting along with others and had an awesome art teacher, I learned my only option was to get her an IQ test so she might qualify for a Charter school that had a G.A.T.E. (Gifted And Talented Education) program for the following year. 
The test was a subjective crock, from what I heard in the next room, but she "passed" with about 130.

I'm pretty sure I never told her the number, but I don't recall whether or not that was because I was advised not to tell her.

In the 1960s I was given an IQ test and my parents were told that I should skip high school and start college (something like Young Sheldon). I didn't. I supposedly had 160 then, but that was before periodic binge drinking, a fair amount of pot smoking, and a little LSD in my late teens-early 20s, plus 12 rounds of high dose chemotherapy in 2016.

Anyway, an IQ test really is based on the subject's mastery of language and skills taught in the current local public school system—so no street smarts are tested, and Einstein would not have done well if given an IQ test in Sacramento—or probably anywhere.

But I guess the IQ test is occasionally a useful plot device.

[WarnerCL45]

18 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

Every adult on TV knows their IQ score.  To the best of my memory I have never taken an actual IQ test; if I have, no one told me my score.  Am I the only adult in existence for whom this is true?

We were given an IQ test in grade 4.  Not sure they do this in school any more.  But, if you watch a lot of daytime TV, your IQ is lowered several points per episode.

[theredhead77]

16 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I'm pretty sure these are the same fictional people who can remember phone numbers and addresses rattled off in the heat of a chase or gun battle

I have no idea what my IQ score is but I can rattle off phone numbers for people I haven't spoken with in 20 years.

[Jacqs]

I can still rattle off my childhood phone number - which is no longer valid since an extra number were added years later. also can still rattle off the registration number plate of my mum's car as it was when i was a kid. She no longer has that car or that registration number. But you get those things drilled into you as a kid.

[Katy M]

I remember my childhood phone number also.  And the phone number of my best friend k-6th grade.  And I think, but am not sure, I remember the number of my best friend 7th-10th grade. I don't remember any more recent phone numbers because I never actually dial them.  

[auntlada]

5 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

I have no idea what my IQ score is but I can rattle off phone numbers for people I haven't spoken with in 20 years.

I know Jenny's phone number.

I know my childhood phone number, too, but that's because it's still my mother's phone number.

[riley702]

Mine, too!

[Shannon L.]

Same here! 

31 minutes ago, auntlada said:

I know Jenny's phone number.

lol!  Well, who doesn't?  ;)

[shapeshifter]

But could any of us remember a phone number or address of a stranger having heard it only once and not having written it down? 

Probably a few people can (probably none here), but could the average not-on-TV private detective do that? I'm pretty sure most of the L&O detectives did it routinely.

It's most often accomplished by spies on TV and in movies. But can real life fibbies, CIA agents, KGB agents, etc. do that?

I've just assumed the writers, directors, etc. didn't want to waste precious screen time showing someone writing a number or, today, entering it into a phone. But I always sort of wondered if people with those jobs in real life do have the ability to remember data on the fly like that.

High IQ or no high IQ, I have never had a good memory--although back before cell phones I did have some phone numbers memorized, but only because I used them a lot.

[theredhead77]

5 minutes ago, auntlada said:

I know Jenny's phone number.

I think we all know Jenny's phone number.

[Katy M]

3 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

I think we all know Jenny's phone number.

My friend Jenny has a different number.  It's very disconcerting.  

[ratgirlagogo]

On 7/21/2018 at 5:05 PM, Bastet said:

They also all remember their SAT score.  Even if high school was 40 years ago,

I literally don't remember EVER sharing my score with anybody outside of a school official - but I absolutely DO remember my SAT score because that and my insane amount of extracurricular activities are what made up for my three D's in gym in terms of getting into college - and I didn't even hate gym!  The teacher hated me! I know everybody says that but it was true.  My other teachers loved me!

[Katy M]

5 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

I literally don't remember EVER sharing my score with anybody outside of a school official - but I absolutely DO remember my SAT score because that and my insane amount of extracurricular activities are what made up for my three D's in gym in terms of getting into college - and I didn't even hate gym!  The teacher hated me! I know everybody says that but it was true.  My other teachers loved me!

She must have really hated you.  Gym, suck as it does, is at least pretty much an automatic A.

[Bastet]

13 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

The teacher hated me! I know everybody says that but it was true. 

I believe you, because unless you never showed up or participated, I don't know how else it would be possible to get a D in gym.

[jennblevins]

54 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I believe you, because unless you never showed up or participated, I don't know how else it would be possible to get a D in gym.

If it’s anything like my D in band, do everything half-heartedly, don’t pay attention, and try to coast by on your (minimal) natural talent and pre-existing knowledge of musical theory. 

That I showed up consistently would be the kindest thing to say about my participation in band. 

I also remember my SAT score, but mostly because I was annoyed that my younger brother scored better than I did. 

This is why he’s the legit rocket scientist and people were surprised I managed to graduate from college. 

[ChromaKelly]

On 7/21/2018 at 4:04 PM, kiddo82 said:

Has anyone actually slapped the back of a cab twice to alert to the driver to pull away putting a friend or loved one in said cab?  And if so, did you do it slowly and with this melancholy look on your face?

Right? What is that? I have never once slapped a car indicating it's time to go.

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, ChromaKelly said:

Right? What is that? I have never once slapped a car indicating it's time to go.

What?  You mean it's not like giving a horse a smack with a crop?  That doesn't actually make the car go?  Who knew?

[jennblevins]

6 minutes ago, Katy M said:

What?  You mean it's not like giving a horse a smack with a crop?  That doesn't actually make the car go?  Who knew?

Rumor has it that a great-grandfather of mine used to pull on the steering wheel to try to make the car stop. I kind of doubt the veracity of this, but I suppose it’s the same sort of logic that would lead to slapping the car.  

[kassygreene]

1 hour ago, jennblevins said:

Rumor has it that a great-grandfather of mine used to pull on the steering wheel to try to make the car stop. I kind of doubt the veracity of this, but I suppose it’s the same sort of logic that would lead to slapping the car.  

It was a tough transition for many people, horse-drawn vehicles to horses-under-the-hood.  There are lots of stories about people stomping on the floorboards, pulling back on the wheel, and screaming WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!  

Learning curve - I have a similar issue with anti-lock brakes, as I was very carefully and successfully trained in how to get out of a skid in 1972, so this stomp on the brake pedal thing took me years to learn (if you stamp down on the brake and hold it, the computer will do the pumping for you, and much more efficiently than you ever could), and as for the new thing with all gear shifts returning to center after you make the magic moves, forget it.

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, jennblevins said:

Rumor has it that a great-grandfather of mine used to pull on the steering wheel to try to make the car stop. I kind of doubt the veracity of this, but I suppose it’s the same sort of logic that would lead to slapping the car.  

I don't know when your great-grandfather was born, but if he'd been riding horses all his life and then had to learn how to drive a car, I wouldn't doubt it.  Force of habit and all that.

 

1 hour ago, kassygreene said:

Learning curve - I have a similar issue with anti-lock brakes, as I was very carefully and successfully trained in how to get out of a skid in 1972, so this stomp on the brake pedal thing took me years to learn

Ditto.

[jennblevins]

1 hour ago, kassygreene said:

It was a tough transition for many people, horse-drawn vehicles to horses-under-the-hood.  There are lots of stories about people stomping on the floorboards, pulling back on the wheel, and screaming WHOA!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

4 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I don't know when your great-grandfather was born, but if he'd been riding horses all his life and then had to learn how to drive a car, I wouldn't doubt it.  Force of habit and all that.

I probably should have been more clear — I doubt the truth of the story based on everything else I’ve heard about my great-grandfather — I don’t doubt that it could have happened ever!  

I learned to drive on a giant van and I’ve been told I behave like all cars are giant vans, so I can’t imagine how difficult it would have been to go through the transition from horse-driven to engine-powered when I can’t even get over the change in vehicle size!  Not to mention, from what I’ve seen on Top Gear, the earlier cars were absolute beasts to drive. 

[Ceindreadh]

6 hours ago, kassygreene said:

It was a tough transition for many people, horse-drawn vehicles to horses-under-the-hood.  There are lots of stories about people stomping on the floorboards, pulling back on the wheel, and screaming WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!  

Learning curve - I have a similar issue with anti-lock brakes, as I was very carefully and successfully trained in how to get out of a skid in 1972, so this stomp on the brake pedal thing took me years to learn (if you stamp down on the brake and hold it, the computer will do the pumping for you, and much more efficiently than you ever could), and as for the new thing with all gear shifts returning to center after you make the magic moves, forget it.

I once got to have a go in a flight simulator.  When we ‘landed’ I instinctively pressed down on one of the foot pedals, thinking it worked like a brake on a car. 

Turns out the foot pedals are actually used for steering when on the ground so I ended up veering off the ‘runway’!

[memememe76]

Re teens cooking, I swear I remember scenes in The Vampire Diaries where Elena was making breakfast when Aunt Jenna and brother Jeremy were still around. I think Eddie on Fresh Off the Boat also cooks. Didn't Manny on Modern Family cook too?

One thing I have ever seen only on TV is people walking between subway trains from the outside. How is that safe?

I also have never cried while taking a shower. Sliding down the wall just seems like an accident waiting to happen. I would totally slip from the soap and water.

Edited July 25, 2018 by memememe76

[ratgirlagogo]

34 minutes ago, memememe76 said:

One thing I have ever seen only on TV is people walking between subway trains from the outside. How is that safe?

It isn't safe.  And I don't see it much these days.  But back in the bad old days of the 70's and 80's you saw it ALL the time.  Not just kids either, but grownups in office wear.  For one thing the air conditioning was out in approximately 99% of all the trains approximately 99% of the time in the summer.

[paulvdb]

5 hours ago, memememe76 said:

Re teens cooking, I swear I remember scenes in The Vampire Diaries where Elena was making breakfast when Aunt Jenna and brother Jeremy were still around. I think Eddie on Fresh Off the Boat also cooks. Didn't Manny on Modern Family cook too?

You're right about Elena. I do remember her cooking or making breakfast on multiple occasions. I also recently saw Maddie and Daphne making breakfast on Nashville. It made me think of this conversation.

[Llywela]

In a chase, people on TV tend to grab at tall bookcases/sideboards in passing and fling them to the ground as an obstacle to deter pursuers - in my daily life, most tall shelving units are fastened to the wall to prevent them falling on anyone.

[Fable]

On 7/20/2018 at 9:48 AM, Ohwell said:

I don't know if all Wawa's are like this, but the one thing I don't like is that you have to touch the screen to place your order instead of speaking to a person.   Considering how many hands have touched that screen, that's just nasty.  

The thing is that hands are all over everything…gas pumps, doors, ATM keypads, you name it.  The best thing to do, if this worries you, is keep an ample supply of Purell on you at all times.    

[MaryPatShelby]

On 7/22/2018 at 5:45 PM, Shannon L. said:

Same here! 

lol!  Well, who doesn't?  ;)

I kind of love that we can all call Jenny any time we want.

[Ohwell]

12 hours ago, Fable said:

The thing is that hands are all over everything…gas pumps, doors, ATM keypads, you name it.  The best thing to do, if this worries you, is keep an ample supply of Purell on you at all times.    

Oh I know that hands are all over everything.  It's just that when it's in a place where they serve food, you have to go to the restroom and wash your hands before you even tough the sandwich at Wawa. 

[shapeshifter]

On 7/25/2018 at 6:57 AM, Llywela said:

In a chase, people on TV tend to grab at tall bookcases/sideboards in passing and fling them to the ground as an obstacle to deter pursuers - in my daily life, most tall shelving units are fastened to the wall to prevent them falling on anyone.

Good point. I've moved so many times in recent years that my tall bookcase is not attached--plus there's baseboard radiators along the 2 walls where I'd want it, and no small children come to my apartment--but it's also in a place where if I could possibly get to it to fling it to the floor, only a moronic home invader would be in its path--but then I figure any criminal would have to be a few cards shy of a full deck to be checking out the digs of a woman way past her prime with limited financial resources--so I'll keep bookcase dumping in mind next time I get spooked.

Edited July 28, 2018 by shapeshifter

[Anela]

dad made me a bookcase, nine years ago, that isn't attached to a wall. The thing is massive, and I couldn't tip it over with it covered in books. Which is a good thing, since it was across from my bed for years. I used it as a sort of headboard for a while.

[Anela]

On 7/24/2018 at 11:30 PM, memememe76 said:

 

I also have never cried while taking a shower. Sliding down the wall just seems like an accident waiting to happen. I would totally slip from the soap and water.

 

I have cried in the shower, but I sit down. You can't really slide down a wall with a bath. I have almost tipped out of there, but I can't remember why, aside from when I made the mistake of taking a shower when it turned out that I had a fever. That's when I miss having a shower door, instead of a curtain. 

I've seen people who are really upset, drown their sorrows in what seemed like silly things at the time, just because the character was a caricature. Like they're having milkshake after milkshake. Then I realized I do the same thing, only with things like gatorade. I have never got drunk because I was upset or grieving. I don't like alcohol that much, and I loathe the room spinning on me, so I never understood why anyone would do that to themselves on purpose. 

Edited July 28, 2018 by Anela

[ABay]

Because it's often accompanied by the sensation that, for a few minutes at least, the world isn't as bad as it seems and people don't totally suck.

[Anela]

3 minutes ago, ABay said:

Because it's often accompanied by the sensation that, for a few minutes at least, the world isn't as bad as it seems and people don't totally suck.

I cry, hide, and drink tea. I wasn't judging, I just never understood why someone would drink so much. I saw my mother pass out when she was talking to someone. It didn't look fun. She became an alcoholic in her last few years alive, and a heavier drinker before that. I grew up around a couple of alcoholics. Plenty of people just drink that way occasionally, but I never wanted to take it that far. It just looked like more trouble for me, when I was already dealing with enough.

[Nordly Beaumont]

On tv people can be falling down drunk then turn stone cold sober when someone tells them bad news. Bad news doesn't change your blood alcohol levels!

[Browncoat]

2 minutes ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

Bad news doesn't change your blood alcohol levels!

Neither does black coffee (or any coffee) or a cold shower or dunking the drunk's head repeatedly in a bucket of water.  Except on TV and in the movies.

[ABay]

No worries, @Anela! I didn't take it as judgmental.