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stevebabin

Violent People at the DZ

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As a DZO, no one likes to have assholes around, but there are plenty of them. 'business' says to try to handle all your customers and keep them happy most of the time.

On a personal level, when someone becomes too much of an asshole, then it is not worth it to try and keep them around. One customer versus 20 of them. And 5% of the people often occupy 80% of your time. Cut your losses.

But I also 'occasionally' object to people coming to me with these personal issues. "So-and-so got drunk and got into a fight with so-and-so". Then CALL THE POLICE! That's what they are for. When crimes are committed, the DZO can only do so much. We have agencies in place to deal with child neglect, alcoholism, drug abuse, crime, theft, etc. The DZO can only do so much, and should be expected to only do so much.

It is much easier for a DZO to ban someone from the dropzone AFTER they have been charged, arrested, whatever. Then when people complain and say "Why did you kick so-and-so off the dropzone? He/She is my buddy..." then you have good reason to. They got their ass arrested and apparently have done some crime so you don't want them around.

I realize that it is a community and I get involved almost daily with people's personal issues (and I will continue to do so), but the line has to be drawn somewhere where it is no longer my problem.

If you got into a fight at Wal-Mart in the parking lot, and some guy beat the crap out of you, you would not go to the Wal-Mart manager to complain. You would go to the police.

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Maybe you should quit hanging out with people who get drunk.




hum it with me

"....don't drink, don't cuss, what do you do...?"
;)


Take up bowling? For you aren't hanging out with skydivers anymore, that much is certain.
"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom

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Hypothetically-
You have a person at the dropzone that has been threatening other jumpers the last few months, and finally acted on his threats by attacking a fellow jumper.
The attack takes place off the dz(while the victim was driving the attacker's drunk ass home from the dz), and was unprovoked.

What should be done?

Hire a lawyer to understand rights.

Stay away from this person at any cost. He is more of a DANGER than you realize! Just as bad as a rig that produces a total mal every hundred jumps or so, in my opinion :o.

Somebody that punches me in my face for getting him safely home is not a friend, he is a criminal. His actions are prosecutable and could easily land him in jail for an extended stay. I don't give a shit what his problems are. Everybody has problems. This doesn't give them the right to threaten and assault people.

Good luck to the "fellow jumper" and best wishes for a fast recovery.








(edited for clarity)

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I never drink to get drunk! (sometimes I might happen to end up that way though)
I drink wine for the flavors, and aromas.
I drink scotch to get a good buzz! :D
Totally different.
I have never developed indigestion from eating my words.
Winston Churchill

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I agree with TK here. This is not a DZ issue as the attack was off DZ property.

I would not be shy about sharing the story with the jumpers at the DZ, however. A unified front in terms of zero tolerence to violance among the fun jumpers can go a long way toward cooling a guy off.

It really takes the steam out of a guy if nobody will talk to him, or jump with him. He'll either settle down, or stop coming to the DZ. Either way, problem solved.

One exception here would be if this was a DZ staffer. Maybe the janitor could slide by, but anyone involved with students/tandems/packing/aircraft needs to be mature enough to control their anger. Failure to do could put people at risk. If that was the case, I would certainly report this to the DZO, and fully expect them to take some sort of action.

Of course, if the DZO doesn't, revert to plan A, and spread the word around the fun jumpers that 'Biff' is a dickhead, and to treat him as such.

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Convene a DZ court.

Don't you guys have a jurist and lawyers?

We do...

Plus we also have the sheriff of bagland as well as the executionors corrections officials.

Most people would wish they had never fucked up in the first place.

Strange how SDC really doesn't have these kind of troubles. (usually)

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Most of us stopped drinking just to get just years ago too.... We grew up .... unfortunately others didn't follow the same path. It would be great to say that it's their problem but when it spills over and affects other people, that is no longer the case:(


Should we call the police out on a drunken/violent mate - Well, in an ideal world, that person is no longer a mate, so is fair game!!


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

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Maybe you should quit hanging out with people who get drunk.

What, no more going to parties at the DZ.[:/]

:P

Seriously, violent behavior like that has no place at a DZ. Our system, our sport operates on trust too much to allow for an abusive personality like that. I've never seen a fist fight at the DZ, although I've seen a couple of close calls. I think that jumper needs a good banning from as many DZ's as possible.

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Hypothetically, here's what went down:;)

Saturday, in the office at the DZ, Irish was trying to teach Casey...I chimed in from across the room...



-Whoever the I is had no damn business chiming in anything while somebody is trying to teach.


Bullshit. There are proper and improper ways to do it, but NOT chiming in when something is being taught incorrectly would be the worst option.

Blues,
Dave
"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

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Strip the drunk down & duct tape his ass to a tree. Take pictures. Post on pics on the Billy Vance thread here on DZ.com. Everyone will then be aware of the problem and either embarrassment or jumpers not jumping with him should solve the problem.
It's called the Hillbilly Hop N Pop dude.
If you're gonna be stupid, you better be tough.
That's fucked up. Watermelons do not grow on trees! ~Skymama

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As a DZO, ...(snip)
, but the line has to be drawn somewhere where it is no longer my problem.



I think the fact that the fight is related to an instructional scenario on the DZ adds complexity to that decision. One of your instructors (I realize not really one of yours TK) interjected when a non-coach was coaching and omitted a safety related component of the skill. This lead to the assault.
The staff member's piss poor technique (chiming in from across the room) didn't help, and the fact that the novice was a woman may have been an aggravating factor.
Are you still sure this is none of your business. Do you want your instructors to take a 'not my job' attitude to safety concerns on the DZ due to intimidation.

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not at all, but if someone decks someone over it, then I fire their ass and/or call the cops - that is what I mean by drawing the line. If I fire them, it is my problem. If I call the cops, it is NOT my problem.

Either way, I dealt with it appropriately.

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The staff member's piss poor technique (chiming in from across the room) didn't help, and the fact that the novice was a woman may have been an aggravating factor.
***

this guy is just a prick, pure and simple, but apparently he has to get drunk to get the balls to hit someone who didnt expect it - what a pussy

I have personally stuck my finger in one persons chest telling him loudly in front of everyone to never try to teach my students anything as he didnt know shit - yeah I embarrassed him, that was my intent as I had caught him teaching others before and my polite warnings to back off were ignored.

The "I" didnt do anything wrong with correcting this idiot other than he should have gone to the s&ta or dzo and let them know that someone was teaching who shouldnt be...

Roy
They say I suffer from insanity.... But I actually enjoy it.

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Steve,
I don't know you that well, but from what I've seen, you're too nice of a guy to hang around with such a dipshit. If you're nice enough to drive this guy home when he's drunk, and he repays you by trying to beat you up, then I would simply ignore him. If he asks you why he's getting the cold shoulder just remind him of how much of an asshole he is and if he values you as a friend then he'll make the effort to mend things up. If not, then good riddance. I’ve always believed it’s best to “praise in public and criticize in private” so there’s no real need to bash this guy in front of everyone else on the DZ. It sounds like he’s doing a fine job of that himself and the Midwest skydiving community is still small enough that most people will find out sooner or later that he’s an idiot.

Oh, and the only thing worse than a Black Irish Jew of royal European descent is a left-handed Indian Weight Watcher midget with a speech impediment!;)



"Ignorance is bliss" and "Patience is a virtue"... So if you're stupid and don't mind waiting around for a while, I guess you can have a pretty good life!

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