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Are some anime cliches based on real life?

I think there are a lot of jokes in anime that have some sort of basis in Japanese culture. Not those though. They're just humorous situations. In fact "walking in on someone in the bath" is pretty universal. How often do you see somebody walk in on somebody getting out of the shower in a US sitcom? It's not realistic in either culture. It doesn't happen all that often in real life because people have the sense to lock the door. If it somehow happens though it's a funny situation though and so that's why we see it in comedies.

But what about the "oh know I sneezed I need to go to the nurses office" mentality.

Well, to be honest, I've never seen a "walk in" on a sitcom.

Umm it is possible to get a cold if you get wet enough through falling through a lake or getting caught in a rainstorm.

On March 26, Harrison became ill with a cold. According to the prevailing medical misconception of that time, microorganisms being then unknown, it was believed that his illness was directly caused by the bad weather. However, it was more than three weeks after the inauguration before Harrison showed the first signs of ill health and modern studies have shown that exposure to adverse weather conditions does not cause respiratory illnesses. It is likely he was a victim of the common cold virus, exacerbated by the drastic pressures of his changed circumstances.

According to the Diathesis-Stress model, an organism under stress (ie. cold weather) will eventually have a drop in immuno response. Which means that while illness is caused by baterias and viruses, your susceptability increases when you are cold. For this to be true though, you would have to be cold for an extended period of time in which the primary goal your body had was for you to warm back up...this would mean standing outside shivering for a couple of hours.

I know Seinfeld had at least one (some woman walks in on George when he is changing). And Everybody Loves Raymond also had at least one (Ray walks in on Debra during a flashback to when they were at college). So yeah.

I think such cliches are often based less on real life happenings, and more on real life concerns/worries taken to extremes. No one wants to be caught in a vulnerable state, especially with sexual undertones and a person you have feelings for. So, what's the most vulnerable sexually-charged state they can show on daytime TV? Walking in on them naked! When's the best time to do that? Bathtime! Wouldn't it be funny to put our lead character in such a ridiculously compromising position?
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It's not about copying things that happen in real-life... it's about overexploiting things we don't want happening to comic effect.

Just saying not based on nothing, and it's not unheard of for extremes to be healthy for you, that includes getting wet. Also Wikipedia is not a reliable source.

While it does seem like this is the most likely cause, I'm just still curious if this is maybe rooted in reality. Like, do they never lock the bathroom door? Do the doors not even have locks? Maybe my family is just paranoid, but whenever some one is in the bathroom or shower, they lock the door. So that ends any potential walk-ins.