Does anyone really do this to their cooling system?

I just got the drain plug out of the engine in my 85 pickemup yesterday, probably the 1st time it's been out since the truck was going down the assembly line. I had to put a "cheater" on the ratchet handle to get it loose but it came without stripping the head of the drain plug.
And yeah I had to probe the drain plug hole with a screwdriver for it to flow.
Before I pulled that plug I was trying to drain it just thru the radiator drain, and I had the upper hose off/ I could hear it sucking a vacuum thru the thermostat housing and would barely trickle.
Once I probed the block drain and gave it some air it glugged out both the block drain and radiator drain. I then pulled the thermostat out and it drained pretty quickly from both points.
That engine is getting ready to come out hopefully later today or tomorrow.