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Deuce

Getting "accepted" into the sport.

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You got it, DF, you got it. And that is what keeps us coming back, doesn't it? I mean, the combination of skydiving WITH family. If it was just the skydiving, I don't know... I'd probably still do it, but it just wouldn't be the same. Not at all.

I've read a lot of posts on here that talk about how skydiving really ISN'T a family, a brotherhood, whatever... well, i think that's true to an extent, maybe in part b/c it's so big and it has such a diverse following. But I know in my gut that the friends I've made here are TRULY my friends. I feel a kinship with them that is deep and very satisfying. And I'm truly grateful for it.

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

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Teacher and Teachable wasn't my point. I truely enjoy getting to learn from other skydivers. I've learned things about skydiving from people with thousands of jumps and from people that have less then 10 jumps.

The point in my example wasn't about the information being taught. It was about being disrespectful towards people. Do you stand by when someone is being a complete ass to your wife?

With that said, I can honestly say I learned more about RW in those 6 days from some of the most famous skydivers in the sport and from skydivers that no one has ever heard of outside of a couple of DZs. They both showed me many things, including a lot of little details that I never knew exsisted.

So obviously I had a good experience in that regard. Those are the kinds of people that make skydiving what skdiving is and what it should be. Its much like my post in the "Skydiving Hero's" thread. Its all about giving back to the sport. However, when "giving back" to the sport is all about making others look very bad and making them feel very bad in how you explain what you're trying to explain (basically being a complete ass) is the exact thing that makes this sport bad.

Unfortunately in my travels it seems that those that are willing to give back to the sport and help people out without super inflating their ego and being an ass about how they teach is more rare then it is the norm. I wish it was the norm to see jumpers go out of their way to help out the low time jumpers, unfortunately its not.
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

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she's married?



She'll deny it, but really, who should you beleive: her, or moi? :)



Qu'est ce c'est "Remi is a terd" en Francais? :P



Ce ca... Remi est une tres homme agréable.

edited for truth. :$

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

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Well. that's too bad, Dave. That hasn't been my experience. But I do tend to tune people out who I find offensive.

Do I stand by when my wife or anybody I care about gets treated rudely? It's not an issue, really, if it's just verbal, because my wife and friends can handle themselves. Somebody treats them like an ass, they say "Hey, don't treat me like an ass". I don't tend to stand behind them and repeat what they have to say.

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I agree with you. People have been absolutely wonderful to me for no reason other than they are wonderful people.

Yes, its hard to have a pissing contest with someone who has low numbers like I do, but the blessing is that I am the blank slate and I don't have anything to piss ON, so you can't piss me off :)
I do however have enough life experience to know Jerks when I run into them. I have yet to meet a Jerk Skydiver face to face (I probably just jinxed myself). As I believe Skywalkers are soulmates of sort, I refuse to say my soulmates are Jerks. Happy Valentines Day and big blues~~April


Camelot II, the Electric Boogaloo!

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A few weeks ago I made a jump with 3 people recently off student status and they were all really happy to just get out of the plane....they did well and everyone had a great time. But, before the jump a very experienced jumper asked me who I was jumping with and when I told her she had less than nice things to say about the low time jumpers and even made a comment as to why I would want to even jump with them.......I was very surprised by her negivitve comments and she even has a coach rating.[:/]

"Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance,
others mean and rueful of the western dream"

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I have always had a hard time getting accepted, the bastards at the dz better like me or I will show up with a shotgun on the next boogie.










Nah just kidding, I am a pretty funny guy, I always take any sort of comment in good will, I am not a smartass but sometimes I do try things that I really shouldn't, I hope that doesn't get me killed B|
He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.

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Periodically we try to mix up the experienced and the newbies by doing 4-way scrambles. I think Anomaly even does something similar for the freeflyers.

The events are a lot of fun and allows everyone to get to know each other a little better and hopefully give them more people to jump with.

It is a sad fact in the sport that most jumpers are gone after 3 to 5 years in the sport. If you don't work and jump with everyone, you're eventually going to run out of people to jump with...experienced or not.

Blue skies,

Jim

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Great thread. The way I had it explained to me after my 100th and getting pied (Which I think is a VERY important ritual in skydiving) was that up to 100 jumps, you are kind of a tourist. People think that you may not hang around so "investing" into your development is a little bit of a "risk" with the possiblity of no return on investment (You could quit the sport tomorrow and never jump again, then the coaching was kind of a waste) but the ritual of the pie is kind of like saying you are no longer a tourist. You've been committed enough to do a whole 100 skydives (whether it took you 2 months or 5 years) and that deserves to be celebrated. I welcomed my pie in the face because I finally felt I was one of them.

Mark Klingelhoefer

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I went through AFF and have made every one of my jumps at Z-Hills. I have yet to meet anyone who wasn't friendly and willing to take the time to teach me. Even if that teaching is in the spirit of telling me to pull my head out of my ass. The culture and passion I see have done as much to keep me skydiving as the skydiving itself. I've never met a group of people that were as "real". I take pride in, and feel fortunate to be able to call them my friends.

I plan to jump at other DZ's soon, and will carry the same spirit with me where ever I go.

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I think in general the sport is pretty accepting, at the DZ I have never experienced anything but a welcomming attitude. Everyone has been fun to chat to and hang around with, instructors, staff and fun jumpers. They even ansrew (I know I can't spell) my questions that they must have heard so many times before. BUT I think it does help if you are enthusiastic and obviously love jumping, people generally have a lot more time for people like that then those that turn up once in a while and look like they don't really care.
Although getting accepted arround the DZ and 'in to the sport' are too different things I guess, as pointed out in other posts you haven't really showed your commitment at only 20 jumps!
x
Leeds University Skydiving Club
www.skydiveleeds.co.uk

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Its been my experience that DZs are like most every other place (church, work, school, Harley riding clubs, etc) There are jerks and cool people at all of them. I ignore the jerks as much as I can and enjoy the cool people as much as I can.

Thinking you'll find the perfect DZ (church, work, etc) that has only cool people and no jerks, will only lead to a big disappointment. IMHO. B|;)

Like I say when people come to me and complain about something ... water off a duck's back, man, water off a duck's back!

steveOrino

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I plan to jump at other DZ's soon, and will carry the same spirit with me where ever I go.


----------------------------------------------------------
IMO that is what it is about spreading the love and good vibes to others that share our passion for skydiving and life
You can't be drunk all day if you don't start early!

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(You could quit the sport tomorrow and never jump again, then the coaching was kind of a waste)



I find that statement very unfortunate. Teaching and Coaching someone should never be viewed as a "waste". Even if the person only did one more jump and left you still took the time to educate that person and hopefully they took it for what it was and learned from it...even if they never get to put it into practice. If you think of it as a waste then IMO you shouldn't be a coach/instructor/teacher/leader.

---

I can't really comment on the whole being accepted thing...

The first DZ I was ever at was Skydive Monteray. I hung out almost all day, did 1 tandem, and found everyone to be unbelievably friendly. Jay Stokes was my TI and he was great.

Then...when I got back home to Canada I ended up meeting my Skydiving friends (and started hanging out with/partying with them) 6 months before I ever stepped foot at our DZ. By the time I got to the DZ I already felt like I was chilling with family.

On top of that my roommate and I both took the time to stay all weekend, every weekend and get to know everyone. We pretty much knew everyone by the end of the summer.

(Mind you...we also listened when we were told things about what we were doing, why we can't do that, how we should do certain moves, etc., etc.)
Derec Davies
Big_Red

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