Cocky/arrogant skydivers.

[npgraphicdesign 2]

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I hate to break it to you, but if you plan on sticking around this sport for awhile, this is just the begining for you. Every DZ has this guy as you described. It comes along with the sport,. Whats sad is the only thing that is cool is their skydiving gear, and for some reason this translate into them thinking that they themselves are cool now aswell. So either dont let it get to you, or quit now!

Oh i get that part, and I'm over it already. Just really rubbed me the wrong way when it happened.

Yes, I plan to stick around for a while.

[likestojump 3]

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it's skydiving - sensitive people don't belong in this sport. You have to be able to tolerate cock-n-balls and tits afterhours, as well as what one may perceive as the wrong tone of voice during the business hours.

Otherwise I recommend to buy two pairs of slacks and take up golfing on the weekends.

You're the guy I'm talking about! I'm betting you were the playground bully. And, I may be going out on a limb when I say you can't think of a single reason to let someone merge into your lane.

You can't claim this entire sport as your own, just because you aren't mature enough to behave decently. But you certainly have the option of surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals at the DZ.

Every single one of your assumptions about me is wrong.
Please don't build your advice based on assumptions.

[Airviking 0]

OK, I apolygyse. I was out of line. But I see people every day treating each other like they don't exist at best, and like shit at worst. This is wrong in general, and to say that "It's skydiving" gives you license to be an a-hole as though the skydiving community is just a brotherhood of a-holes is wrong.

It's a 2-sided problem:
1. Newbies need to learn to not take things so personally.
2. Experienced jumpers and organizers need to treat newbies and each other with respect, and perhaps listen to how they come off sounding.

With just a little bit of effort, we can all get what we want.

-Cheers!

I believe you have my stapler.

[skymama 35]

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Something to remember in skydiving is that once people have their rigs on, its over, ask them if you could get on a load with them after the one they're on!

I agree with this 100%. By the time I have my rig on, I've already mentally prepared for the jump a couple times. I screw up enough times as it is, don't fluster me at the last minute, you'll waste your money and mine!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[skyrider 0]

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OK, I apolygyse. I was out of line. But I see people every day treating each other like they don't exist at best, and like shit at worst. This is wrong in general, and to say that "It's skydiving" gives you license to be an a-hole as though the skydiving community is just a brotherhood of a-holes is wrong.

It's a 2-sided problem:
1. Newbies need to learn to not take things so personally.
2. Experienced jumpers and organizers need to treat newbies and each other with respect, and perhaps listen to how they come off sounding.

With just a little bit of effort, we can all get what we want.

-Cheers!

I'll buy you a few beers just for that post...

[npgraphicdesign 2]

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OK, I apolygyse. I was out of line. But I see people every day treating each other like they don't exist at best, and like shit at worst. This is wrong in general, and to say that "It's skydiving" gives you license to be an a-hole as though the skydiving community is just a brotherhood of a-holes is wrong.

It's a 2-sided problem:
1. Newbies need to learn to not take things so personally.
2. Experienced jumpers and organizers need to treat newbies and each other with respect, and perhaps listen to how they come off sounding.

With just a little bit of effort, we can all get what we want.

-Cheers!

I'll buy you a few beers just for that post...

You cheap a-hole...I have a few bottles of homemade vodka for him.

[D22369 0]

my first impression is that you have jumped to a conclusion, like others have said he may have had a legit reason to not have another body up there.

I had a student of mine on his first two way, a non current AFFI asked to join us, I am sure he thought I was a cocky arrogant jerk when I told him no I want to keep it to a two way, I didnt want the extra body up there to distract my student or to cause problems due to his being less than current.

now if they told ya you couldnt jump with them cuz you didnt have tits...thats being a jackass

Roy

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

[SRI85 0]

cant tell you how many times i havent been let in on a jump. i didnt let it get to me, just kept jumping and having fun. the more i jump though, the less harder it is to find people to jump with me.

[lekstrom10k 0]

You have to remember that the guy giving you all his crap might have less jumps than you or only a few more.If you do better than him he looses face and his self imposed hero status. Come to our DZ and you get on a load without the egos.

[npgraphicdesign 2]

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You have to remember that the guy giving you all his crap might have less jumps than you or only a few more.If you do better than him he looses face and his self imposed hero status. Come to our DZ and you get on a load without the egos.

Thank Lekstrom. What DZ?

[ridestrong 1]

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This was about 20 minutes before their load.... they were casually standing there with their rigs on discussing what they would do when I asked to join them, so I wasn't jumping in during or after their dirt dive. After our conversation, they did a dirt dive about 5 minutes later.

They had their rigs on 20 min before now call? What a couple of tools.

Seriously tho, there's been a few times where I was denied getting on a jump for good reason, and a few times where I've denied letting others on for good reason. In none of those situation did anyone get their feelings hurt. In other words, no one was an asshole about it.

*I am not afraid of dying... I am afraid of missing life.*
----Disclaimer: I don't know shit about skydiving.----

[ManagingPrime 0]

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Let it go, it's not worth having your feelings hurt over. There are more serious things in life to worry about

+1

+2

[skydivr 0]

It used to be, when jumps were under $15, that it was alot easier to change jumps in mid-stride to add another jumper. Don't let it bother you, you only get in on cool stuff if you ASK. Don't let that prevent you from asking another jumper, BEFORE HE STARTS DIRT DIVING, if you can get in on it.

My wife gives me grief because I try to let TOO many people come in :)

Keith Abner
D-17590

"Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

It's really hard to be told "we don't want you to play with us". It's also something that is difficult to say well.

I've been fortunate enough that when I've been told "no", the person saying it has explained that either the jump is as complicated as they are willing to go and my joining would add too much or that they have already planned and dirt dived it and really don't want to change anything any more. They have also invited me on the next one or pointed out someone else that would be willing to jump with me.

20 minute call and geared up really is pretty late in the planning process. On the orgainzed stuff I've done, by the time the gear is on, we are all set to go and any discussion is "fine tuning" stuff.

And 2way experienced/newbie jumps don't really have a lot of places for a 3rd "mid-level" jumper. I've done a very limited number with a coach and a new A licensee. It was made very clear to me that my main job was to not mess it up. The coach and student had clearly defined goals, and my slot was designed to not interfere. When I couldn't make the specific slot, I was to lurk nearby and not screw up what they were doing.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[dcfreefly 0]

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You have to remember that the guy giving you all his crap might have less jumps than you or only a few more.If you do better than him he looses face and his self imposed hero status. Come to our DZ and you get on a load without the egos.

Thank Lekstrom. What DZ?

Yeah def no egos, and chances are lekstrom will even give you a big fat smooch in FF

[npgraphicdesign 2]

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You have to remember that the guy giving you all his crap might have less jumps than you or only a few more.If you do better than him he looses face and his self imposed hero status. Come to our DZ and you get on a load without the egos.

Thank Lekstrom. What DZ?

Yeah def no egos, and chances are lekstrom will even give you a big fat smooch in FF

Great...then I'll solve two of my issues at once: not having anyone to jump with and being single.

[trig78 0]

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Let it go, it's not worth having your feelings hurt over.

+1

+2

+3 Smile & Ignore

[robinheid 0]

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cocky/arrogant skydivers

can you say... double-redundant?

SCR-6933 / SCS-3463 / D-5533 / BASE 44 / CCS-37 / 82d Airborne (Ret.)

"The beginning of wisdom is to first call things by their right names."

[popsjumper 2]

On the one hand, maybe he spoke to you as you perceived.

On the other, I'd have to say "get over it". It's a rough way to live trying to figure out what tone of voice each individual person will respond to best.

Makes you feel like you're walking around on egg shells.

IMO, it's the message that counts, not the tone.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[JohnMitchell 14]

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There was a guy, a young doctor who used to show up at the DZ with his trophy girl friend, and basically take over the place. He'd organize biggish dives and grab the more experienced jumpers. It was basically The Jeff Show.

There's a lot of power in being an organizer, and I've seen a few people use that position to feed their pitiful egos.

OTOH . . . when you're organizing, you're trying to achieve a successful and fun dive for all the participants. The difficulty of doing that goes up, maybe exponentially, with the number of participants. You may fly very well for under 300 jumps, but I certainly wasn't capable of doing good 16 way sequential RW when I had that many jumps. Sure, the guy you describe sounds like a dick, but he seems to have a following, so his dives must be somewhat good. It is frustrating when everyone you want to jump with gets caught up in the big ways. It happens to me a lot.

Are there any of his castoffs and rejects you could jump with to make a good 4 way? I tell people that you'll learn more of everything you need to know doing 4 way, and you'll only embarrass yourself in front of 3 other people, instead of a dozen or more. Plus, you'll get more docks-per-dollar on a smaller dive. Fact is, I'd rather do 4 way than just about anything else. On bigways, it seems like you're always just laying there, waiting for someone else to dock.

And to the original poster, sorry, but if I'm jumping with someone with a brand new A license, I probably have some skill drills in mind. That person will get a lot more out of a 2 way jumps where they fly a lot than a 3 way jump where they spend time waiting for the other person to dock. I'd probably give you the same answer the other guy did.

[skyrider 0]

Also, never forget to ask at Manifest if anyone is looking for people, and even have them announce a solo looking to join a group...

[primetime 18]

I will never forget what it was like as an up-and-coming jumper. Those first few hundred jumps are the most amazing journey in the world. Just surviving the freefall, deployment and landing isn’t enough. You also have to survive the clash of attitudes and personalities that exist on every DZ. Having a thick skin helps; dedication and a hunger to learn helps more.

The experienced jumper didn’t owe npgraphicdesign an explanation. However, he could have said, “Sorry, we’re working on a specific skill set on this jump.” It would have diffused the whole situation. No feelings hurt. End of story. No thread on dz.com.

If I had been the experienced jumper, I would have added, “You can catch up with us on the next jump, and we’ll make a hot 3-way.” I like making lifelong friends—I’m kinda funny that way.

[primetime 18]

I just did my first emoticon, which I swore I'd never do.

Is that a case of beer?

[JohnnyMarko 1]

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I just did my first emoticon, which I swore I'd never do.

Is that a case of beer?

If you have to ask, then yes it is

[pilotdave 0]

No idea who you're talking about, but FYI there was an organizer jumping with all skill levels all day. Sometimes you make an extremely friendly, dysfunctional-family-like, little DZ sound pretty bad. It is like a family... and you just happen to be our weird little brother we're embarrased to introduce to our friends but we have to love you anyway.

Or someone's still pissed that you're not a girl. Who knows?

Dave