0
npgraphicdesign

So, what would YOU do? skydiving related...;)

Recommended Posts

Quote

I'm sitting in a coffee shop doing my work, and this couple comes in. After hearing them for a few minutes, I realize it's a first date. My music in my headphones is quiet enough so I can hear them. Then, he pulls out the 'i'm a skydiver' card. But, turns out he only did one tandem. And he is starting to feed her all kinds of bs: the freefall was only 15 seconds or so from 14k, we fell at almost 200mph, him and the instructor were falling upside down most of the jump (well that COULD have been true :D:ph34r:), that they opened VERY CLOSE to the ground, and some other BS.

So being the a$$hole skydiver that we call can be, would you interject and call him on his BS, or would you keep quiet, seeing as they were having a first date? :S:D:ph34r::P



Firstly I wasn't there. But my take on it is that many people are extremely proud of the 1 tandem that they have done and don't really see a distinction. In a similar vein many people here don't see you as a skydiver if you are still on student status.

The account of it could also be genuine mistakes (15 seconds SOUNDS like 50 seconds - he could have misheard the instructor debrief). Especially in that if he was exaggerating or lying I would expect 2 minutes of falling. 120Mph is 200km/h another mistake or exaggeration.

I reckon that most people inflate their stories regarding their conquests in life I would let it be. I know how you feel though, It is amazing how many people are involved with some of the standards committees that I am in UNTIL you mention you are involved - their role usually shrinks about 90%.
Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I guess everything is dependent on your point of view. I've heard guys say that if you suck one ____, you are gay. One skydive, and you aren't a skydiver? Never really thought about it.

I know my first skydive (AFF) was a comlete blur when I hit the ground. Who knows how he remembers it?

I would have continued with my evening, enjoyed my private joke and posted it on here when I got home. Good job, buddy. :D

I know it just wouldnt be right to kill all the stupid people that we meet..

But do you think it would be appropriate to just remove all of the warning labels and let nature take its course.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

I guess everything is dependent on your point of view. I've heard guys say that if you suck one ____, you are gay. One skydive, and you aren't a skydiver? Never really thought about it.

I know my first skydive (AFF) was a comlete blur when I hit the ground. Who knows how he remembers it?

I would have continued with my evening, enjoyed my private joke and posted it on here when I got home. Good job, buddy. :D



Just to clarify I wouldn't call myself a skydiver with a tandem jump under my belt but I do see how someone could honestly see themselves as one. 99% of the people on the planet haven't jumped in their own small way they are "special".

Where I jumped it was generally accepted that first freefall was your graduation to skydiver - before that you were a "dope on a rope":D
Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

I've heard guys say that if you suck . . .

Paint a million pictures, they never call you an artist. Jump out of one little airplane just one single time and they call you "skydiver" forever. :D;)


Save a family from an fire and no one remembers ... fuck just 1 sheep .......

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

Quote

I've heard guys say that if you suck . . .

Paint a million pictures, they never call you an artist. Jump out of one little airplane just one single time and they call you "skydiver" forever. :D;)


Save a family from an fire and no one remembers ... fuck just 1 sheep .......


And Clay will make you pay for nailing one of his ho's:D:D:D:D

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote


Where I jumped it was generally accepted that first freefall was your graduation to skydiver - before that you were a "dope on a rope":D

Hey, I remember that. Before my first freefall "John, up to now you've been a parachutist. Today you'll become a skydiver." :)
And you couldn't count your static line jumps towards licenses. They had to be freefalls.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Hey, I remember that. Before my first freefall "John, up to now you've been a parachutist. Today you'll become a skydiver." :)
And you couldn't count your static line jumps towards licenses. They had to be freefalls.



Yes the guys could be very derogatory towards SL students - how hard is it to step through a door?

It is interesting thinking about group associations:

I like to be seen as a skydiver.
I don't like to be seen as a "biker" - I ride bikes.

Other areas that people differentiate:
Have a fuck, versus being a fucker or have a wank - not be a wanker.

Generally speaking in sport or hobbies there are 3 categories. Those who have tried, those learning and those who are. Swimming is a good example, you are either learning to swim or you are a swimmer. Well known examples of trying something out - helicopter/aircraft trial flights and I would lump a tandem in with those.
Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
To follow up on the above, I think any expert in a field might occasionally overhear a private conversation about his/her area of expertise where they realize someone is speaking nonsense. Generally speaking, it's still a private conversation that's none of their business.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

[A few years ago my wife and I encounter a guy like that while were were out celebrating her birthday. We both had the local dropzone STAFF shirts on. It didn't matter, the guy stuck to his story and made a complete ass out of himself.

Don't worry, if he's a douche, it'll come out in other ways besides a skydiving story.




I was a two hundred jump wonder in college and layin a line on some hottie in a bar when this older guy looks at me on his way out..."Hey SKYDIVER...how many jumps do you have"?

I told him, and rolling his eyes and grinning he says..."Shit kid, I have more dead centers on a round than you have parachute jumps!" and walked out...:DB|










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote


I told him, and rolling his eyes and grinning he says..."Shit kid, I have more dead centers on a round than you have parachute jumps!" and walked out...:DB|

But did ya get the girl?;)

There's always someone better than yourself. At my DZ, I jump with Andy Farrington. He's super cool but it's still a great ego check for me. :D

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I haven't paid much attention while shagging tandem rigs. But I would be unsurprised to find a tandem instructor welcoming someone to skydiving when they hit the ground. It is, afterall, one way we introduce people to the sport. I can see the student calling themselves a skydiver. I can see more experienced skydivers calling them a whuffo.

It is also in the nature of some people to disparage others in whatever way they can. So, a more experienced person will discredit another's experience even if it is good experience. Sad, but true.

I would not have described myself as a skydiver after one tandem, but I would not disagree with someone who did.
I know it just wouldnt be right to kill all the stupid people that we meet..

But do you think it would be appropriate to just remove all of the warning labels and let nature take its course.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I agree with what you're saying. I like Nigel's analogy. I have 6 hours of flying a plane, but I wouldn't call myself a pilot. I'd have to be taking lessons and working towards a license to even think of saying I was. Of course, saying "I'm a pilot" doesn't get the panties down like saying "I'm a skydiver!";):D

The best line is "I jump a Mirage.":D

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote


I told him, and rolling his eyes and grinning he says..."Shit kid, I have more dead centers on a round than you have parachute jumps!" and walked out...:DB|

But did ya get the girl?;)

There's always someone better than yourself. At my DZ, I jump with Andy Farrington. He's super cool but it's still a great ego check for me. :D



:D:D:D

The DZ I started at was chock full of triple digit D license holders, with guys like Lew Sanborn, Bill & Judy Hayes, Jim Stoyas, Joe Smith stopping by...when I move to San Diego after college, my roomie had been on the US Team twice...couldn't brag about much of anything.

Then I move to Texas, try to tell a hero story with the late Dennis Anderson standing there..."Hell I did that, at night, drunk and on fire...10 years before you even started jumping Twardo!" :S:ph34r:

I'm better off just keepin' MY mouth shut! ;)










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest
Quote

Quote

Depends on how hot the chick is.

Absolutely correct there. :)


+1 B| Like a hawk....swoosh! :D:SB|

mh
.
"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

Hey, I remember that. Before my first freefall "John, up to now you've been a parachutist. Today you'll become a skydiver." :)
And you couldn't count your static line jumps towards licenses. They had to be freefalls.



Yes the guys could be very derogatory towards SL students - how hard is it to step through a door?

It is interesting thinking about group associations:

I like to be seen as a skydiver.
I don't like to be seen as a "biker" - I ride bikes.

Other areas that people differentiate:
Have a fuck, versus being a fucker or have a wank - not be a wanker.

Generally speaking in sport or hobbies there are 3 categories. Those who have tried, those learning and those who are. Swimming is a good example, you are either learning to swim or you are a swimmer. Well known examples of trying something out - helicopter/aircraft trial flights and I would lump a tandem in with those.


I started with SL. I didn't really think much of the first few SL-jumps and PRCP's. It was just stuff I had to do to get to free fall. Only then I felt that I finally achieved what I was looking for.
Your rights end where my feelings begin.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0