A dark sense of humor?

[fred 0]

Is having a dark sense of humor a key part of skydiving?
I used to have a friend who worked lawncare for a cemetary. He always complained about the "damn mourners."
"Can't they see that I'm trying to mow the lawn here!?"
It cracked me up. And I read all the FAQ's an such and there's so much dark humor. "There are two ways down to the ground. Pull the ripcord and release the parachute, or don't. It's really your choice." "If your reserve doesn't open, you're life expectancy has just become 27 seconds."
And I love the euphamism, "bounce." Like, "Fred bounced last week. We'll really miss him."
Does the dark sense of humor come part-and-parcel with skydiving? Or is it simply a common way to deal with scary things?

[Jessica 0]

Good observation. I really think it comes with any pastime or job that, by its nature, makes you deal with difficult or dark things.
I'm a journalist, and when golfer Payne Stewart died in that weird plane crash, we cracked ourselves up in the newsroom coming up with offensive, dark headlines. "Fairway to heaven" was a favorite, as was "Six under."
Or maybe skydiving just attracts the kind of sick bastards who would find that kind of thing funny.

[Dar 0]

I personally think that a "dark" sense of humor signifies a person that doesn't truly fear dying. Of course, none of us WANT to die... but we also want to LIVE... and that requires living on the edge (for most of us anyway). I know that when I jump out of that plane, I want to land safely, but I also know that if I don't, I would have died doing something I loved... not on the freeway because of some drunk or something. I joke about bouncing... I think we all do... maybe it's just our way of dealing with the fear of not being able to live to jump another day. Just my pennies worth.
Blues!
Dar

[DZBone 0]

I read somewhere once that humor is the release of fear. In other words, we find something funny when it scares us at first, then we realize that it's not so scary, and laugh. It's like the lower, animal brain reacts first, and the upper, human brain gets a boot out of the fact that the animal brain thought it was going to die! You can see this in a lot of comedy, if you watch for it.
I'm not sure if it's related or not. But I can imagine that when we make light of these things, they are extra funny for us because the underlying fear is so much more real.

[Watcher 0]

I agree with you Dar, once you can accept Death as a likely outcome of your actions, then it really starts to become funny, your whole life kinda shifts, and "the real world" seems to become a lot less important. Im still urging my parents and relatives to take out life insurance policies on me, so they can get rich when one of my dives does not go completely right, grisly thought but ive accepted it.

[mbolism 0]

Personally, I've always had a dark sense of humor, even before I started skydiving. I find that it is definitely a release from something that is uncomfortable or difficult to talk about. My best friend is a doctor, and he probably has the darkest sense of humor of anyone I know. It was a necessity for him in order to deal with the daily task of seeing sick or dying individuals. Just imagine doing that job and not being able to laugh at life and death! It would be soooo depressing...I agree that making light of situations makes them easier to accept, also, life is funny! I look at life and death as a game. It all shouldn't be taken toooo seriously because you never know what's gonna' happen tomorrow. When I did my first few jumps and met my boyfriend ( met him at the dz after my first two static lines...) I changed my beneficiaries on my life insurance policies at work. I put him as the first beneficiary and I told him, "look at it this way, if I die, you get an extra rig, and will probably have enough money to buy a few more!!!! I may actually be worth more dead!!" He didn't like that joke at all!!! He said he would rather have me around than any rig, which was sweet, but he definitely doesn't have as dark of a sense of humor. At least not when it comes to me...I just find I can talk about it with no problem. Also I am a huge believer in reincarnation, so I don't worry! I'll be back again anyway, and if I'm really good (good karma!) I'll be a bird in my next life!!! TWEET!!!
those who fear nothing may not live...those who fear everything may never live.

[fred 0]

A friend of mine used to work lawncare at a cemetary, and he always complained about "those damn mourners. Can't they see I'm trying to mow the lawn here?" He had many other stories about how the cheap caskets leaked embalming fluid that probably aren't appropriate here. His stories always made me laugh, though.
When I was around 12 years old, my older brother had a severe asthma attack, and the doctors didn't think he was going to make it through the night (as it happened, he left critical care the next day and went home two days later in perfect health).
When my parents and I were in the private waiting room, we joked. We made horrible, tasteless jokes that if anybody else had made, we would have scolded them. The were tasteless, definately sardonic. But it passed the time while we had no idea what was going to happen, and those moments of a strenuous smirk were worth it. It seems disrepectful, and my story/memory of it would probably have been different if he'd died that night.
But as it is, the dark sense of humor made it much easier for me to deal with these aspects of mortality. I'm not really afraid of death, except that I don't want anybody to see my apartment as filthy as it is. That's what motivates me to survive each jump. ("Can't die now! There's a half-eaten pizza on my coffee table!")

[Jessica 0]

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I'm not really afraid of death, except that I don't want anybody to see my apartment as filthy as it is. That's what motivates me to survive each jump. ("Can't die now! There's a half-eaten pizza on my coffee table!")

LMFAO!!! I do this too! In fact, early on when I was dealing with a total on a hop n pop, I remember this thought flashed through my head: Oh hell, there are condoms lying out. The thought of my bereaved parents dealing with that mess, shaking their heads sadly, saying, "We obviously never really knew her..." as they pick their way through the filth was enough to make me locate that silver and YANK!!
This made me laugh out loud!!

[SniperCJ 0]

I think its a pretty common way to deal with uncomfortable, scary or 'dark' subjects. Im a cop and seems we ALL deal with those type things with humor. Humor that most 'normal' people would find disturbing. Go in on some call where some dude killed himself or something and trust me, we'll find SOMETHING humorous about the situation. Occasionally bothers me that we can be so callous, but you realize its a coping mechanism. Cant bring all that shit home.
Blues!
CJ

[zelda 0]

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I'm a journalist, and when golfer Payne Stewart died in that weird plane crash, we cracked ourselves up in the newsroom coming up with offensive, dark headlines. "Fairway to heaven" was a favorite, as was "Six under."

Funny!! Reminds me of some emails about proposed headlines that went around after John Denver died; I wish I could remember more of them:
"John Denver Thanks God He's a Country Boy--In Person" is the only one I can rember...
blues,
zelda

[freeflir29 0]

Definately a coping mechanism. Once your mortality becomes "real" to you it's not all that scary anymore. People that really fear death are the ones that arent really living anyway. They just exist and pass the days.
I went to a friends funeral in March. He was killed on the job. (Air Force) Seems a Marine pilot thought that where a couple of my friends were standing was a good place to pickle 3 500lb bombs. Another friend that was standing not 2 feet away was wounded pretty good in the lower leg but he's back at work now. Why did that happen? When it's your time to go, you'll go. He was doing something that he loved. The job we had was really cool and It was very hard for me to leave it. It was a lifestyle really, not just a job. I cant think of any better way to go than doing something you love. I left most of the danger behind when I left the Air Force but Skydiving is an outlet for me. It still lets me keep the "edge." If I burn in someday, Oh well, hopefully my friends will raise a beer for me. My son will grow up to be a good person and my ex-wife will be run over by a truck. Till then, I just take life as it comes and keep the morbid jokes rolling.
"I used to know a girl...She had two pirced nipples and a black tattoo"-Everclear
Clay

[SpeedRacer 1]

Right after I bought my first rig a jumpmaster was teaching me how to throw the pilot chute (I had used ripcords on the student rental gear) He was talking about how if you can't find your hacky after two tries, go right for the silver. His words re. groping for your PC hacky: "Don't spend the rest of your life looking for it." ROTFL!
Speed Racer
"Come up to my lab,
And see what's on the slab!"

[DZBone 0]

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Speed Racer

Happy 500th post, Speedy.

[SpeedRacer 1]

Wow, I didn't even notice! 500 posts! Do I owe beer, or something? Am I now an addict?
Speed Racer
"Come up to my lab,
And see what's on the slab!"

[Jessica 0]

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Do I owe beer, or something?

Yes, beer. Send some of those $6 cases our way.

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[DZBone 0]

Addict is 700, I think. Getting there!

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Do I owe beer, or something?

If you have to ask...

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"Come up to my lab,
And see what's on the slab!"

I see you shiver in antici...

[DZBone 0]

...pation.

[skymedic 0]

from being a paramedic for far too long at too young of an age...I can definately say I have a very dark sense of humour. I think for me it is both that I dont fear death and also that after seeing countless people dead in every way shape and form and all ages I have understood that death is a simple fact of life. I could tell you some very humourous dead guy stories but I will spare the weak stomached around here...
Marc
Here I come to save the day!!!!!!!!!!!

[Albatross 0]

Having been an EMT in SouthCentral Los Angeles and now helping at the DZ I defitely have to say that a dark sense of humor is just a way to keep from taking my life to seriously and focusing on all the shit that could happen. Like Skymedic said from my experiences I would easily convince the average person to stay inside their house for the reat of their lives. And now from working in a medical lab I could get them to give up eating and drinking. SO we joke so that we don't think too much about the shit we see. I think that it helps us deal with the dangers and death that we see a little at a time.
Flare Damn it!!!!!
Albatross

[freeflir29 0]

"I would easily convince the average person to stay inside their house for the reat of their lives"-Albatross
Ever seen people killed in their homes when a plane crashed into it......LMAO
"I used to know a girl...She had two pirced nipples and a black tattoo"-Everclear
Clay

[xybe 0]

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"Don't spend the rest of your life looking for it."

Now, THAT'S a good one.
Dark humor runs in the family but I am the only (aspiring) skydiver.
Last time I crossed the border to jump, my brother was wondering how things would go if I had to make it back in a bag:
Would they bring the whole thing or just leave some stuff behind to lighten the load (I am about 230 lb)
Would I be able to pass the sanitary barriers (we have tough controls against hoof and mouth desease in the borders)
etc. etc.
Still shedding whuffo-ness
Check out the Hardcore Whuffo pages

[skymedic 0]

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Ever seen people killed in their homes when a plane crashed into it......LMAO

yes I have, and it wasn't that funny eather.....
but then again the one where the 18 wheeler fell off an over pass and landed in this guys bed room was. considering it was a truck load of condoms....too bad he was like in his 80's....he ended up dieing not from the impact , but from a heart attack from the fright!!!
Marc
Here I come to save the day!!!!!!!!!!!

[freeflir29 0]

"but from a heart attack from the fright!!!"
Hell....I would too!
"I used to know a girl...She had two pirced nipples and a black tattoo"-Everclear
Clay