wildblue 4 #1 February 28, 2001 What's the strangest thing someone has said to you about your rig or jumping? Besides the usual "Are you crazy?!" stuff.At the airport a few weeks ago, the guy driving the concourse shuttle asked me if I ever got any strange remarks "Carrying that thing on the plane" - so at least he knew what it was, and was pretty cool about it. I said "No, actually, you're the first to remark about it"Not more than 15 mins later:A girl said to me "I like your backpack" The grin musta tipped her off, because then she asked what was in it.5 mins after that, sitting near the gate (with my coat thrown over my rig to prevent strange looks) the guy across from me asked "Do you always travel with a parachute?" I was going to respond with something witty and sarcastic, but settled for "Only when I'm heading someplace warm"Never got anything strange about jumping, except the usual "Oh! I could never do that! What's it like?"So what's your story? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cyberskydive 0 #2 February 28, 2001 LOL- thats a good one- reminds me of the time when a friend of mine was doing a demo for a small group of young school kids in a local park. After the demo we sat around and answered a few questions for the kids and teachers. He landed at the edge of a small pond to please the chillins. Seems the kids didnt know what to think, one of em even asked my friend, "How come you have holes in your shoes?" LOL- And when one of the teachers asked, "have you guys ever lost anybody?" my friend answered, "No, we always find them." HAHA D.Chisolm C-28534[email protected]http://www.sunraydesigns.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stacy 0 #3 February 28, 2001 heehee i work in manifest so i hear them all... the best three were :1. So this Freeze Fest thing... does it get cancelled if it's cold outside?2. So it costs 185 for a tandem. Do I have to bring my own parachute?3. What happens if you don't pull?Stacyhttp://astro.temple.edu/~sweeks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tee 0 #4 February 28, 2001 Just yesterday I was asked "can you stear your parachute?" and "what do you wear when you jump" After replying to them my jumpsuit....they responded "cool you should wear it to work someday." Yeah...those booties are such a fashion statement. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OmriMon 0 #5 February 28, 2001 I actually wear everyday like a freefly suit - baggy pants, big sweatshirt or workshirtFree Skies,Omri Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freaksister 0 #6 February 28, 2001 when i go out of town for the weekend i like to put everything i need in my gear bag, especially if i am flying, so i only have one bag to carry. so...the thing is HUGE! it is a sunshine factory gear bag size medium but will easily hold two rigs. i wear it through the airport like a backpack (only way i can carry the damn thing) and people just STARE at me totally. like, what kind of freakin' luggage is that? one day some people were openly gawking, and i looked straight and them and said, yes, it is full of SHOES! i am a shoe addict! (which is true, typical woman, but mine are all tevas and tennis shoes. skechers rule for skydiving) i think its hilarious. when i take the rig on board as a carryon and ship the rest of the gear bag, i ALWAYS sit in the exit row for drama and wear a sport death t-shirt. "98% of all people who die in plane crashes do so upon impact. Therefore I choose to exit the plane BEFORE it hits the ground! SKYDIVE! 120 mph speed limit!" usually people are way cool about it, and ask me if they can hold on while i jump out. i am like, NO, fend for yourself sugar! i can give you the number to the dropzone if you like and you can be trained yourself! then you won't have any worries! :) the flight attendants are the absolute coolest, too.sis Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildblue 4 #7 February 28, 2001 I've had people say "That's a cool rune on your necklace; what's it stand for?"So I tell them - "Closure" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freaksister 0 #8 February 28, 2001 oh yeah, i forgot all about that...i got pulled over in a small hick ass town driving back from dallas one weekend. it was a monday and i had to be at work by 4 PM so i was crusing. the dude (it wasn't texas dps it was like childress city police) is only like 30, young you know? i think, cool...well he says the usual, etc. 80 in a 70, blah blah. then he says oh so you skydive? don't they have someplace to do that WHERE YOU LIVE? i said, NO, if they did i wouldn't drive 350 miles to do it...he says, what does that THING on your neck mean? i told him what it was and he says, OH, i thought it had some kind of religious significance. i said, NO, then it would be a cross...(duh) anyway, so i can't find the damn insurance card...he says look for it and meet me at the back of the car (??what the F?) i find it and walk back there, he acts surprised i don't have any warrants or something, and then asks me, "SO, do you smoke dope?" i just sort of stood there, like huh? i said NO...then i realize well i have on shorts, a sleeveless t-shirt with a huge red arrow pointing DOWN (at you know what) and tevas...so my tattoos are showing (one of them is a moon smoking a joint)he said, oh well aren't you an adrenaline junkie? i said, i dunno, never thought about it but i guess so...he says, WELL>>> most of those adrenaline junkies smoke dope,i guess to come down or whatever...i just stood there, thinking is this for real? am i dreaming??? i said nah, most of the ones i know don't, one is the district attorney and the other is a cop...he said well, you are kind of branded you know...that tattoo...i said well its sort of PERMANENT. he says you can have it removed and i'm like, well i think i would rather spend the money on SKYDIVING or COLLEGE...but thanks for the tip.gave me the ticket and life moves on. the longer i thought about it the more i thought, what an asshole! how stereotypical can one whuffo be? geez. pretty funny though...my nickname after that for awhile was "Satanic Dope-Smoking Adrenaline Junkie"Sistah! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fawgdog 0 #9 February 28, 2001 Strangest thing I got was when I took my jump suit into the tailors, They said "Here is your bike outfit..." I was like "I ride really far in this all the time."Another one that I can think of didnt happen to me but one of the Airspeed guys, He took his pics in of them swooping in and the lady at the photo counter said "We couldnt get all of the balloons into the picture..." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grogs 0 #10 February 28, 2001 Well, not so much a stupid question as a typical whuffo statement. I was talking with my boss and co-workers about Social Security today, and they said: "Ahh, don't worry about it. If you keep jumping out of airplanes you won't make it long enough to collect anyway." HMM. Guess that means I'm middle aged at 27 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dutchboy 0 #11 February 28, 2001 This recently happened to a friend from my DZ. He was traveling and was connecting through Indianapolis. Well the guy brought his rig along on the trip, just in case the weather allowed him to jump (I forget where). He goes through the security check at the Indy airport. They x-ray his rig, no problem. So he's walking down the terminal wearing his rig. A couple of Indy cops stop him and start asking him questions. They don't think that he can wear a rig in the airport and definitely don't think that he can take it on the plane. They called more cops and security and pretty soon there is like 6 cops around him giving him grief because they all think he is doing something wrong. He told them to call Delta to see what they said. The person from Delta was quite confused and said "People carry parachutes on planes all the time". The funny thing is that this guy works for Delta even. The cops just shrugged and walked away. How is that for ignorance! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
miked10270 0 #12 February 28, 2001 Hi there,For those of you who're carrying your rig as hand-luggage (& have an evil sense of humour... OK.. humor!!) try recycling the old joke:Whuffo: What's in the bag?Skygod: My Parachute... Why, didn't the check-in give you one as well? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpeedRacer 1 #13 February 28, 2001 Yeah, I don't like putting my rig in cargo. But when I carry it on a commercial flight, I put it in a bag. No questions that way. If you wear it openly, you might occasionally run into stupid-whuffo static. I know it's a thrill to impress or freak people out about the fact that you skydive, but it can lead to more trouble than it's worth. But I understand, because the last time I flew to Florida I was in the back of a very crowded plane. I knew that after we landed I'd be waiting for 20 minutes to get out of the plane as other passengers fumbled for their luggage & blocked the aisles with their fat whuffo butts. As we were coming in for a landing, I wished that they'd let me out the back at about 10K so I could avoid the crowd!-Speed Racer Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Iflyme 0 #14 February 28, 2001 I read this answer somewhere on this website a while back and used it one day at work: someone asked me "what happens if your parachute doesn't open?", and I replied "Gee, I never thought of that..." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aviatrr 0 #15 March 1, 2001 Being a pilot, I am allowed to jumpseat on most airlines for free.. To do this, I have to be in uniform.. When I jumpseat with my rig over my shoulder, I always hear people saying.. "Why does the pilot have a parachute?"My favorite? When I was on the cockpit jumpseat, because all the seats in the back were full.. The Captain was obviously somewhat familiar with rigs, because he asked.. "Hey, does that thing have one of those little explosive charges in it?" (referring to Cypres of course) When I replied Yes, he said "Hey, why don't you find room in one of the overhead bins in the back for it"..Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpergirl 0 #16 March 1, 2001 I think the funniest whuffo question I have ever heard was, "Can you breath up there?" It is always varied, like, "How do you breath?" or "How do you hold your breath for so long?" or "Does it hurt to breath in freefall?" It never fails,if I'm in a group of whuffos, which I try REALLY hard not to do too often, someone will ask that. After working manifest at a very busy DZ last year, I think that was the most asked question, besides, "Have you ever jumped?" They always got bug eyed when I said, "Yes, I have over 200 jumps." Of course that's over 300 now! ;-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tee 0 #17 March 1, 2001 Quote I think the funniest whuffo question I have ever heard was, "Can you breath up there?" It is always varied, like, "How do you breath?" or "How do you hold your breath for so long?" That is hilarious because my dzo always makes a joke to the tandem students that if he has to go by a bit of a cloud that they should hold their breath. When they ask why he says "well, what are clouds made of" and they of coarse reply "water" and he procedes to tell them that if they were to breathe in while going through a cloud that they could drown. It is amazing how many fall for it before the truth comes out! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
froggie 0 #18 March 1, 2001 Quote That is hilarious because my dzo always makes a joke to the tandem students that if he has to go by a bit of a cloud thatthey should hold their breath. When they ask why he says "well, what are clouds made of" and they of coarse reply"water" and he procedes to tell them that if they were to breathe in while going through a cloud that they could drown. Itis amazing how many fall for it before the truth comes out! thats just mean! actually its really funny. No, its just mean. wait, its hilariusly mean! thats it! but in any case, when im manifesting this summer i just might have to use that when talkign to first timers. hehefroggie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #19 March 1, 2001 Quotego by a bit of a cloud thatthey should hold their breathI punched a cloud..err...ahh accidently went through some *industrial haze* a while back. Actually, it was really really relaxing. It was like standing infront of one of those room humidifier/help-you-breath-things that people get. The air was nice and cool (it was in the summer here in south/central Texas, read: very very hot) and kinda cleared my sinuses a bit. Really nice. Luckly, though, the only other person that was in the air around me had grips so there wasn't any danger with hitting other jumpers AND the cloud was only about 1k thick. Also, it was at about 8k on an airport where our jump plane was the only one flying that day, so I was relatively safe. Relatively (please don't flame me AggieDave '02-------------Blue Skies and Gig'em Ags!BTHO t.u. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyhawk 2 #20 March 1, 2001 why would we flame u AggieDave. clound i mean industrial haze is cool froggie another good one to try is when booking them in if they look like they can take a joke be all bubbly then look down as if reading what jm was on next then really seriously say oh you have ADSFSFF here better have this then pass them the life insurance pamplet thing Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stacy 0 #21 March 1, 2001 There was an AFF student I talked to this past summer who thought that clouds were poisonous gases and that he would die if he breathed in them. Needless to say he came down from some jumps fairly out of breath and red faced, petrified of the dangerous clouds. =c)Stacyhttp://astro.temple.edu/~sweeks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyboy62000 0 #22 March 1, 2001 I wonder if he would hold his breath while driving through fog too. After all it is just a cloud at ground level. That's funny.Blue Skies,Adam Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stacy 0 #23 March 1, 2001 I'll have to ask him when I see him. He was pretty embarassed about the whole ordeal, actually. Stacyhttp://astro.temple.edu/~sweeks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFXpert 0 #24 March 1, 2001 QuoteI read this answer somewhere on this website a while back and used it one day at work: someone asked me "what happens if your parachute doesn't open?", and I replied "Gee, I never thought of that..."HA HA HA HA! There you are Iflyme.....I've missed you. Haven't seen you around much lately. It's nice to see that sense of humor again.MUCH LOVE AND BLUE SKIES!Carrie http://www.geocities.com/skydivegrl20/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
windchill 0 #25 March 1, 2001 For some reason I was asked weather when you 'pull your parachute do you go flying back up?'They must have seen some aerial footage of someone dumping and the cameraman continuing to fall giving the impression of the subject going back up. Hmmmmmmmmm. Ill say no more. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
