"You're playing with fire." whuffo parent vent

[StreetScooby 5]

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I debated whether to share the following or not..I decided to do so as its been a growing concern.

So far I haven't gotten any such rants, but what kind of concerns me is the 'silent reaction' I've been getting from my sister and father whenever I mention how an AFF jump went. Its difficult to read into. Its like they believe something bad is going to happen, but both of them realize that nothing they can say or do will effect my decision.
So far its one of the most difficult factors in staying the course, I don't have the support from them as I did while in the Marines..and lord knows while I was deployed they went through some tough times. After getting back, an immediate family member came down with cancer and passed away a year back. I don't intend to post anything negative but...for me its a tough situation.

If...such an incident were to occur. I hope my family would understand that I went doing what I loved most.

First, thank you for serving our country.

Clearly you're a risk taker. Don't talk about it for a little while. Let them ask.

Put yourself in your father's shoes. He worked his ass off putting a roof over your head, and food on the table, to raise you. Maybe he, like many of us, has a limited emotional capacity for shock when it comes to someone you love.

I doubt you'll bounce. They don't know that.

We are all engines of karma

[dharma1976 0]

yeah me mum totally still hits me with the look when I talk about skydiving so I try not to...

and I only had to move 50 miles away ;-)

but my father on the other hand loves the idea of it, in fact any time he sees me skydiving he tells me about acommercial he shot with the golden knights for an Army commercial in the 80s

cheers

Dave

http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

[darrenspooner 0]

My Father said "well, I just think you're a fucking idiot". You know what? He's a fucking idiot!

[tbrown 26]

Tell her you also have sex with people of many different races, that should help.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[kelpdiver 2]

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Tell her you also have sex with people of many different races, that should help.

send dad a topless skydive pic and see which part he shouts about first.

[jakee 1,254]

My parents' very laid back approach to skydiving has always kinda surprised me. When I was a young kid they were all about safety. Anything sharp, anything hot anything to do with roads they were pretty paranoid about me and my sis getting hurt. Then one summer, all of a sudden they stopped nagging and started saying 'sounds fun' to everything. Since then they've supported me in anything I've wanted to do - travelling, climbing, gliding, skydiving, they just want to see pictures and video at the end. Its cool

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[cocheese 0]

I think a lot of us are in the same boat. People, If you have parents that understand and support this game, you don't know how fortunate you are.

The stress we must put them through we have no idea. All we can do is be safe to prove them wrong.

[MF42 0]

I'm semi-fortunate in that my parent's very much don't like it, but they've agreed not to speak against it. 'Course, I did just casually compare the hazards of skydiving to what Mom faced in her rodeo days...

Matt

[Sky15 0]

Funny thing I just remembered when I had only 50ish jumps she surprised me and was standing by the peas when I landed, this was hours from where she lived. I remember her actually being excited about me jumping. But the only other time she has seen me jump in person was when I got married. She has watched some videos of big ways, students, etc. and at times seemed interested, asking questions and all, which is probably why I held out hope and continued to try to educate her about the sport. She must have been paying attention b/c years ago she saw a video of some very bottom end CRW I did (under 1000 foot dock and biplane) and said "isn't that a little low for doing that?"

For a brief time she was even considering making a jump. So she hasn't consistently been negative to me about it, although she did always worry. I remember her calling the dz to check on me in the early days.

We had a short discussion last night where I did explain her attitude of impending doom was annoying and confusing. Of course she just brought up the fact that I have kids now and also said "I love you both and just don't want something to happen to either of you..." Oh well, she's never going to change.

Thanks again for all the replies. A few of you are very lucky to have such great support from your parents.

[MissyOutTheBox 0]

Bravo!!! That's what I am talking about statistics!!! Just like the paper says, Go USA Today.. My parents took the pilot route as did my sister. Mom came to visit the home dz a few weeks ago and the whole way home I had to hear that whole bit,"You are Playing with Fire Melissa".

Of course she supports my experiene of flight, but I guess my manner vs, hers is a lost cause..lol.. "Why you want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane is beyond me" Oh well and then the conversation shift comes in.. So how did I look up there and coming in to the dz...

Scuba been there. My cousin was killed in a diving accident off the Seattle,WA coast a few years ago got vertigo and lost his diving partner they didn't find him for days and believe me it was a closed casket..

Thank You But I will take to the blue skies they are much more too my tastes....

Have always wanted to be a social butterfly but now I have the wind beneath my feet.

[billyg23 0]

I dont know about your mum but i dragged mine up to watch my level one. She lives on her own since my dad died so i included her in my day. At first she was so scared but after seeing all the tandems/cameramen land safely she told me she felt re-assured and they even worked the magic and almost got her to do a tandem. Foolishly i said she shouldnt do it then i realised the error of my way..... she hadn't said that to me. We talked about it. I apologised for being an idiot and saying no to her. i said she should do it but after careful deliberation agreed that after having re-constructive surgery for breast cancer it may not be a wise thing.

So, for me and my experience it boils down to love, fear and control. My mum used to be a major control freak but she saw what i was like in my youth, she knows i will not respond well to control now. She sometimes doesnt like it when she see's videos of me and the gang racing thru skies at what looks like a million miles per hour BUT she sees what i get from it and without getting into other deeper stuff here she knows that the pay-off from skydiving is more than worth the risk.

All parents deal with things differently, some care too much.....are so scared they try to control their kids, some dont care at all and some care but embrace their kids decisions. I know that the times my mum seems to get a little scared and voice her fear to me usually means that she has other stuff going on in her life which is causing her to react.

Keep jumping. Keep your chin up through the emotional pressure. You're not on your own with that sort of situation.

----------------------------------------

I AM THE ATMOSPHERE HOOLIGAN

[popsjumper 2]

My parents adopted the, "You Don't Tell and I Won't Ask" philosophy.

Between me and my brother and my sister, we gave them a lot to not ask about.

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

[mcashatt01 0]

I've got a better one for you...

Last year during our families Christmas dinner, my grandfather told me in front of the entire family that if I continued to skydive I was going to go to Hell. (he's a wesleyan)

Hell of a christmas.

[cjsgrlsx3 0]

I would actually have to say that my mother is very supportive of me. I have only had two tandems but next Saturday I go for my third and my mother will go for her 1st. Kind of neat. My father on the other hand was very scared about it. But on my second tandem I dragged him out there and he has done a 180 and wants to come to all my jumps. So my are very supportive of me wanting to get my license.

[udder 0]

Amen. All my parents do is make me feel guilty. Saying they don't want to look after a cripple. But they were happy to let me go horseriding when I was little... And rugby. All these things break bones. In comparison skydiving is quite safe. Except for when things go really wrong.

"In one way or the other, I'm a bad brother. Word to the motherf**ker." Eazy-E

[Flying_Penguin 0]

So far its one of the most difficult factors in staying the course, I don't have the support from them as I did while in the Marines..and lord knows while I was deployed they went through some tough times. ....If...such an incident were to occur. I hope my family would understand that I went doing what I loved most.

[flyangel2 2]

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Amen. All my parents do is make me feel guilty. Saying they don't want to look after a cripple. But they were happy to let me go horseriding when I was little... And rugby. All these things break bones. In comparison skydiving is quite safe. Except for when things go really wrong.

No! Skydiving is not!

You parents can only make you feel quilty because you allow them to make you feel that way.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[riddler 0]

I can't say my mother was thrilled about skydiving, but she knows I do what I want without her consent. I took some time to get her a bit involved so she would understand. I took her to the home DZ and got her a plane ride on the King Air while I jumped out. I even took her to a boogie once in another state, and got her a ride on the Eloy otter while I jumped out. It still worries her a bit, but she knows I love it and that I practice safe procedures and try to keep my gear in good shape. Overall, she's pretty supportive of my decisions, but I think involving her more made her feel better about it.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[Titanman2789 0]

My mother finally gave in to my first tandem. After that she said never again, but yea right! That was only the first of many to come. There has to be some point when she will give in and accept the fact that i was born to be a skydiver. My father does it so it runs in the family. I've known how to arch and cutaway and pull the reserve since I was 2 years old. Surely she must know if I have a mal i will know what to do.

[kris2extreme 0]

my parents bought me a gift certificate for a tandem for christmas one year... now i'm in the process of AFF. I guess they're both pretty supportive of it... my dad would like to do it as well, but in his line of business, he can't really afford to take the chance of getting hurt.

[bojana 0]

After they made me stop once(at16yrs), I don't care for the critics anymore.