Things that are common in fiction but not in your real life

[skb]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Electric drill sorts filing cabinets quickly. ALL the keys got lost for all the cabinets for the department after a move within the building.

Very off topic, but if you go to the locksmith with the little number punched into the lock of a filing cabinet, they can make a key for you. I did it with a second hand cabinet and (because they use the same lock type) the letter box of my new house.

I now return you to your usual (unusual) programming.

Things that happen in books that don't happen in real life: sentient pets. I don't know how many (non-fantasy/sci-fi) books I've read where the pets are almost super Rin Tin Tin and yet they're rescues who the owner has recently acquired. They're almost making the aforesaid tomato soup and grilled cheese for the sad MC.

[Ekaros]

Prevalence of useful caves...

[GrannyGrump]

People trapped in caves who never need a toilet
(this was VERY prevalent in Victorian melodrama fiction)

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by GrannyGrump

People trapped in caves who never need a toilet

People who never need a toilet

Fixed that for you.

[GrannyGrump]

TOO TRUE!!
Thank you for the giggle.

[mrscoach]

Every time I read/see about people really getting stuck in elevators or other smallish spaces I panic at the thought of having to pee in the corner with everyone just having to STAND there. And then if I read a book like that i just think "sure". I'd be the one would have to go immediately, just because I hate the thought so much.

[tempest@de]

People eating at home using paper plates, I’ve seen it several times, and today I came across it in a book where they where eating pizza in paper plates at home, mind you the plates didn’t come with the pizza, the character went to a cabinet to grab them. Is this a common thing in the US?

I don’t know anyone that eats on paper plates, here this is the kind of thing that we buy for a party or a picnic, so it easy to clean when you have a lot of people eating, but I don’t get using it to eat dinner at home, it seems to wasteful.

[Dr. Drib]

It wouldn't do to have a character in a space opera have to stop the action because he (or she) is constipated. That's why older Sci-Fi is so much better than all this new-fangled SF that pretends to be relevant. *


* Notice the emoji.

[maddz]

Originally Posted by tempest@de

People eating at home using paper plates, I’ve seen it several times, and today I came across it in a book where they where eating pizza in paper plates at home, mind you the plates didn’t come with the pizza, the character went to a cabinet to grab them. Is this a common thing in the US?

I don’t know anyone that eats on paper plates, here this is the kind of thing that we buy for a party or a picnic, so it easy to clean when you have a lot of people eating, but I don’t get using it to eat dinner at home, it seems to wasteful.

Agreed. Here in the UK pizza eaten at home is effectively finger-food. We eat ours off china plates but with fingers (I had to put a stop to my partner decanting the pizza onto a dinner plate for cutting because it damaged the glaze). If I ordered pizza in, it would remain in the box and be eaten with fingers. I only eat pizza on a proper plate with knife and fork if I am eating at a restaurant.

I use paper plates when we're eating in the garden (mostly because china doesn't bounce very well and my pattern is discontinued) or on a picnic (along with plastic cutlery). I also use disposables if I'm in self-catering holiday accommodation; and I have a stash of plastic cutlery for when I'm in the office (digestive issues mean it's best to bring my own lunch in).

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by maddz

Agreed. Here in the UK pizza eaten at home is effectively finger-food. ... I only eat pizza on a proper plate with knife and fork if I am eating at a restaurant.

As a teen it used to amuse me considerably that my Dad would get annoyed if we ate Indian food with any utensils other than our fingers, but always used a knife and fork for pizza

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by tempest@de

People eating at home using paper plates, I’ve seen it several times, and today I came across it in a book where they where eating pizza in paper plates at home, mind you the plates didn’t come with the pizza, the character went to a cabinet to grab them. Is this a common thing in the US?

I don’t know anyone that eats on paper plates, here this is the kind of thing that we buy for a party or a picnic, so it easy to clean when you have a lot of people eating, but I don’t get using it to eat dinner at home, it seems to wasteful.

Yes, it's common in the US. I normally eat off of paper plates if I'm eating a sandwich, chips or pizza. It all depends on what you want to waste, paper or electricity, time and water.

[Quoth]

We might have paper plates for a party.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Yes, it's common in the US. I normally eat off of paper plates if I'm eating a sandwich, chips or pizza. It all depends on what you want to waste, paper or electricity, time and water.

Of course, it takes a lot of electricity and water to manufacture paper products. So there's that.

[tempest@de]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Yes, it's common in the US. I normally eat off of paper plates if I'm eating a sandwich, chips or pizza. It all depends on what you want to waste, paper or electricity, time and water.

The wasteful comment that I made was not only about money, also about the waste made, the paper plates are disposable and non-recyclable so they go to the landfill, and they cost resources (water, electricity, trees, and a lot of chemicals) to produce.

For me there in no question that I would prefer to eat in on proper plate and put in the dishwasher, I don’t waste time because the machine washes while I do other things and I only run the machine when it is full. When the machine is loaded it can clean 42 dishes at a time and consumes 10 l of water per cycle, adding the cost of electricity and detergent it comes under a cent per plate, looking at the cost of paper plates a pack of 10 costs 1 € so ten cents each.

Spoiler:

Water – 10 l at 0.00054 € / litre = 0.0054 €
electricity to run the machine - 0,7 kwh per cycle at 0.1514 €/ kwh = 0,11 €
soap – 10 € per 60 doses = 0,16 €
total cost to wash 42 dishes = 0.2754 €
cost per dish 0.2754 / 42 = 0.0065 €

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by tempest@de

People eating at home using paper plates, I’ve seen it several times, and today I came across it in a book where they where eating pizza in paper plates at home, mind you the plates didn’t come with the pizza, the character went to a cabinet to grab them. Is this a common thing in the US?

It's very common in my US household.