Ridiculous things you believed as a child...

[D_W]

I'll start with mine.

* anyone jumping through the air cannot be shot - it's impossible *

..I was in about first grade or so when the A-team came about. For folks in the UK who don't know what that show is, it was an absurd 1-hour format show where four guys who are wrongly accused military escapees run around the country in a black van saving people who are being wronged. At the end of each show, they have to move on because the military police are closing in on them, and so the loop never ends.

It was also filled with things like tanks, converted diggers with rocket launchers and gobs of guys shooting machine guns.

The show was in prime time, and i don't remember the exact route to the guns, but the censors told them no killing or no blood or something (thinking they wouldn't be able to use guns). Instead, they decided nobody would ever get shot - thousands of rounds, none ever hitting anyone.

Also combined with the gun battle machines was guys jumping for their lives (it seems like they were always jumping over barrels). In elementary school, we interpreted this to mean that it was almost impossible to hit someone who was jumping, and guys running fast probably not, too. So when we played battles at recess in school, anyone who was jumping could not be shot. Which led to many of us doing a combination of running and jumping everywhere (both at the same time) declaring "you didn't get me, I was jumping!!".

This scene has less jumping, but I think they may have gotten 1000 rounds in this scene.



(Also, notice the guy in a steel drum is protected not only from all manner of bullets, but he's unhurt when a large cadillac hits the barrel at high speed),

 

[Cabinetman]

Hi DW, oh yes we had them the black guy with all the chains the loony helicopter pilot and the cigarsmoking head honcho plus one other who I don’t actually remember.
God knows where it came from, but I thought I could walk on the tops of hedges, never tried it thank goodness!

 

[D_W]

While yours may not have come from the A-team, it certainly has the same flavor. Physical impossibility!
I can't remember the names of the actual guys on the show other than Mr. T and George Peppard, but remember the other guys were face and murdock. For the longest time as a kid, I thought face was George Hamilton and Murdock was the guy who did the Ernest movies.

 

[artie]

I'll start with mine.

* anyone jumping through the air cannot be shot - it's impossible *

..I was in about first grade or so when the A-team came about. For folks in the UK who don't know what that show is, it was an absurd 1-hour format show where four guys who are wrongly accused military escapees run around the country in a black van saving people who are being wronged. At the end of each show, they have to move on because the military police are closing in on them, and so the loop never ends.

It was also filled with things like tanks, converted diggers with rocket launchers and gobs of guys shooting machine guns.

The show was in prime time, and i don't remember the exact route to the guns, but the censors told them no killing or no blood or something (thinking they wouldn't be able to use guns). Instead, they decided nobody would ever get shot - thousands of rounds, none ever hitting anyone.

Also combined with the gun battle machines was guys jumping for their lives (it seems like they were always jumping over barrels). In elementary school, we interpreted this to mean that it was almost impossible to hit someone who was jumping, and guys running fast probably not, too. So when we played battles at recess in school, anyone who was jumping could not be shot. Which led to many of us doing a combination of running and jumping everywhere (both at the same time) declaring "you didn't get me, I was jumping!!".

This scene has less jumping, but I think they may have gotten 1000 rounds in this scene.



(Also, notice the guy in a steel drum is protected not only from all manner of bullets, but he's unhurt when a large cadillac hits the barrel at high speed),

We had the A Team in the UK.
Thousands of rounds fired each week and nobody ever got hit.
I believed that Americans didn't put sights on their guns.

 

[D_W]

I used to yell at the screen .."STOP AND AIM!!"

I recall hearing once years ago that the Japanese or the Germans or both were shocked that just about every american thrown into war knew how to shoot. While we're probably above average now, there's plenty here in the urban and suburban areas who have never seen a gun in person other than police carrying them, let alone shot one.

 

[TRITON]

God.

Not a single dinosaur reference in it anywhere.

 

[Ollie78]

Thanks for reminding me about the A team.
I used to watch it with my grandad and eat marmite on toast. Such a specific memory.

Ollie

 

[NikNak]

Not only as a child.... my missus (70 now) used to believe it was impossible for horses to run with all 4 feet off the ground at the same time... "its not possible, they'll fall over..." i then got her to watch some horse racing and athletes back in slow-mo. Voila... case closed

 

[thetyreman]

I genuinely believed for a long time that if I accidentally ate a seed it'd grow into a tree inside my body until I was about 12 and I'd die lol I think that was one of my uncles wind ups when he was drunk at a wedding.

 

[Bm101]

I have to admit I thought quicksand would have played a greater role in my life than it has.

 

[Spectric]

Thousands of rounds fired each week and nobody ever got hit.

I had worked that one out, they only loaded training blanks.

 

[billw]

80s TV - A Team, Airwolf, Knight Rider, ALF

I love Family Guy and American Dad but find South Park about as funny as nailing my privates to a crocodile. Simpsons is a bit stale now.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Not only as a child.... my missus (70 now) used to believe it was impossible for horses to run with all 4 feet off the ground at the same time... "its not possible, they'll fall over..." i then got her to watch some horse racing and athletes back in slow-mo. Voila... case closed

She didn't wonder how they got over fences, then?

 

[D_W]

I have to admit I thought quicksand would have played a greater role in my life than it has.

You weren't the only one. We generally went around areas we didn't know tapping the surface with our feet. That was a big terminal thing on TV back then (stepping into quicksand - "nobody has ever survived!!!")

 

[Doug B]

I used to believe scone was pronounced scone until I learned it was in fact pronounced scone

 

[billw]

Never understood the scone v scone argument, since neither of them is right and it's pronounced scone.

 

[gregmcateer]

The A Team!! Those were the days.

"A swan can break your arm with one swipe of its wing".

Probably true, I guess, but I know of NO-ONE EVER who's even had a slight injury from a swan. BUT maybe that is because everyone listened to the advice...

Oh, and "A cat will ALWAYS land on its feet"

I'm ashamed to say that we did conduct experiments on our particularly agile cat. In fairness, she almost always DID manage, but not ALWAYS.

In our defence, we were kids; encouraged to experiment and learn; too many to parent strictly; and the cat fail only occurred at very low level - i.e. too close to the surface to spin round onto her feet, (but not too close to stop her whipping round and scratching us for being little t'''s - What a great cat!)

 

[gregmcateer]

Never understood the scone v scone argument, since neither of them is right and it's pronounced scone.

STONE me, ONE cannot bring up that debate, unless you've GONE crazy!

 

[Garno]

As a child I believed I would never become a babe magnet, wow was I wrong about that one.

 

[D_W]

I genuinely believed for a long time that if I accidentally ate a seed it'd grow into a tree inside my body until I was about 12 and I'd die lol I think that was one of my uncles wind ups when he was drunk at a wedding.

This was widely told to kids who ate fruit seeds and wouldn't stop. I got a long-winded story from an aunt once about a kid with watermelon vines growing out of his ears, and was forced to be extra diligent about finding all of the watermelon seeds. Really slowed down my consumption.