Perceptions of your relatives changed, or same?

[Mike111 0]

Hey,

To jump in the UK if you are under 18, you need parental consent. At first, my parents were very suspisious and negative about the sport, viewing it as a daredevil exploit performed by crazy loones.

however, they signed the form neverless, and have now dramatically refined their views about it. having seen many skydiving videos they now understand how hard it is to master new skills and how anything is possible to do in the air, they view it as a unique challenge and a very colourful sport. Fo course they still think its dangerous btu worth doing.

funny how a little information can radically change the image of the sport.

What are the perceptions of your relatives, have they changed?

funny how information

[FlyingRedneck 0]

my parents are kinda the same. at first my mom thought i was gonna kill myself and didnt want to hear anything about it. and in just a few months she is asking me if im jumping today or not. and my dad is booked for a tandem at MayMeet in Kamloops.

[Mike111 0]

my dad may do a tandem to!!!!

[jumpingjimmy 0]

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my dad may do a tandem to!!!!

a tandem to where?

[Mike111 0]

Uk parachuting, Norfolk.... England.

[jumpingjimmy 0]

doesn't matter

[Mike111 0]

lol im lost

[bob.dino 0]

You didn't pay much attention in English class, did you?

Look up the difference between "to" and "too".

[Skymonkey13 0]

When i first started jumping my dad (God rest his soul) he passed away last September. But anyway he told me he always knew i was nuts but he ask me if i had totally lost my fucking mind.

But his favorite saying was "You'd have a hard time getting me out of a bad airplane, much less a good one."

I have allways remembered that.

[angryelf 0]

My parents signed for me to enlist when I was 17 knowing I was going to be jumping as part of my job.They thought I wouldn't get to do it much and it wasn't something they thought about a lot early on. After my first jump-they thought it would be something I just did once in a while.
Now that i sport jump-and spend almost every weekend at the DZ-they suspect what they always have-that I'm a little crazy-not b/c I wan't to jump-but b/c I spend so much money doing it!
Mom's doing a tandem in the near future and is pretty open to the idea. Dad says his feet stay on the ground-we'll see about that!!!

"Sometimes you eat the bar,
and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

[jumpinfarmer 0]

Yea at first they thought I had a death wish. Now they seem more at ease with it and wonder how my jumps went.

[borgy 0]

From my experience Whuffo's never see skydiving as a real sport. About as close as I've got is a whuffo saying "Ohh so you can like move around up there and make shapes". Unless they jump I don't think they'll ever really get it.

I only trust two people in this world, one of them is me and the other one aint you.
Nicolas Cage as Cameron Poe in "Con Air"

[Eiley 0]

Changed in the opposite way.

My Mum doesn't want to know when I go jumping and is constantly asking when I'll grow up and give it away.

My brother refuses to sign for a tandem for my nephew, who I've lived with all his life. He's disgusted I encourage my nephew's interest, because of the number of funerals I've attended in the past 17 years (two of which he also attended, having known the victims). I've stopped bringing it up, but nephew turns 18 next year and so far is still keen.

nothing to see here

[Mike111 0]

I never understand why somepeople just blast it. I never do

[Andy9o8 0]

I started at 18 because I knew my parents wouldn’t sign for me in a million years. I told my dad and sister after I’d done about 5 jumps, and they were very negative & non-supportive about it. 30 years later, they still are, so we never discuss it. We concealed it from my mother & I only told her about 3 years ago.
FWIW, I also don’t discuss jumping in social situations because I’m long past tired of the same old whuffo questions & discussions all the time. I’m not a curiosity piece & don’t need to explain myself to anyone (except my wife & kids, but that’s the only exception).

Quote

My brother refuses to sign for a tandem for my nephew, who I've lived with all his life. He's disgusted I encourage my nephew's interest, because of the number of funerals I've attended in the past 17 years

It would be one thing if your family was supportive, but you've made it clear they're not. If your nephew goes in or is permanently maimed, are you prepared for the family blaming you for it forever?
When I was newer in the sport, I’d try to recruit others to join in. Not any more, especially not younger adults, i.e., the kids of friends & relatives my age. The reason is simple: shit does happen skydiving, and if something happened to one of them, I’d basically be blamed for it the rest of my life. No thanks.

[Fast 0]

Nah, my mom still thinks im nuts and throwing my life away. I don't talk about it with her. Every now and then I will show her a cool picture but that's about all she can take w/o getting nauseus. (Yes I am very serious, she gets sick to her stomach when I even talk about it. Not much I can do about that, I just don't bring it up)

My dad still thinks its cool cause he was into scuba when he was younger and understands where I'm coming from.


I'm 23.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[Lastchance 0]

My dad turned 69 in March and is going to do a tandem in June. I dont think that he would have done this had I not been a skydiver. But he is now really looking forward to it. My grandmother is 93 and says that if her hips didn't hurt her so bad that she would do a tandem also. Everybody should leap from an airplane at least once in their lives.

I may be getting old but I got to see all the cool bands.

[Mike111 0]

Im afriad not

[julesshrew 0]

Well my parents went and moved opposite the dropzone so I guess its their fault in a way

18 months ive been jumping and never have they been over to watch me jump (although they did admit to looking out for me through the zoom on the camera) They ask alot of questions and are always interested in watching my DVD's but they are happy being no further involved.

I have had the 'so when you gonna give this up and settle down chat' and when watching a prog with Base jumping I got 'You are not going to do that are you? No your not' Ah bless that they care but at least they are receptive to it.

I got a letter from my great uncle who is in his late 80's this week who says he is a bit of a nutcase too, would have jumped if he had been younger but instead wishes he could afford a flight to the moon. He always hopes that my guardian angel flies with me always which is kinda cool

[popsjumper 2]

I know a pair of really nice and really good skydivers who quit skydiving because a relative on his deathbed, asked that they quit as his dying wish.

Not fair....playing hardball...totally wrong.

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

[LittleDJ 0]

If it wasnt for my mum pushing me to finally take up the chance of doing a 'sponsored jump' i would still just be dreaming of it! She loves showing everyone the DVD of my first skydive but is a bit bummed that i am never at home during weekends now!!!

As for wuffo's though, i find its a great conversation stopper to mention you skydive, got me out of a few bad ones....

***********************************
LittleDJ!!- There is no such thing as a perfectly good aircraft!!!

[Mike111 0]

[simon_uk 0]

My parents signed the form to let me to do a tandem jump when I was 16, they thought I was mad wanting to do it, and as soon as I landed and said I wanted to do it again they were wondering what they had started, although it helped them loads to see how professional everyone at the DZ was. Unfortunately I didn't have the money to jump until I started uni in Nov (the joys of subsidised jumps!) but I think their view of skydiving is starting to change and there starting to accept it, they still like me to text them after each jump though. lol. Other members of my family think I’m totally mad for ‘jumping out of a perfectly good airplane’. My aunty even thinks that I have something missing from my brain.

University of Portsmouth Skydive Club

[Icon134 0]

My mother worries but generally accepts the fact that I'm going to do what I want.

The rest of my family has never given me any sort of indication of an opinion one way or another other then the occasional... "You did what?!?", "That sounds like fun!", or the "I could never do something like that."

Scott

Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...

[LittleDJ 0]

When someone i know comes up with the 'perfectly good aroplane routine' i usually answer with even the best go wrong, and who is going to be the one who's most likely to survive....... that made them think

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LittleDJ!!- There is no such thing as a perfectly good aircraft!!!