hawkflight 0 #1 November 13, 2003 Boy I sure am glad this forum is here.. all my friends have stopped taking my phone calls and keep the lights off at their homes for fear I will want to show them the video from my first Tandem jump two weeks ago or else try to convince them to come with me this Sunday when I begin my AFF training.......They Just don't get!! and I can't seem to find the words to TRULY explain the experience.....Do these words even exist? man am I trippin".....cannot wait for Sunday it's supposed to be beautiful day in old Virginny............................... "Any fool can learn for his own mistakes, a wise man learns from anothers." Mark Twain Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fast 0 #2 November 13, 2003 Sorry, but no, its not explainable. The only way to understand it is to get out and do it. As for all your old friends, if they can't understand that you want to spend time another way, don't force it on them, just find friends that do understand. All the wuffo friends I have know very well that I won't be calling them on a weekend when the weather is good. They have come to realize that I wil be at the DZ and don't call me either.~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 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skybytch 273 #3 November 13, 2003 Don't fret. You'll make new friends at the dz. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanuckInUSA 0 #4 November 13, 2003 I can only speak for myself, but the message seems to be the same for most skydivers. You will slowly phase out many of your whuffo friends and replace them with skydiving friends. Whuffos couldn't care less about our jumps (and especially our videos), but your future skydiving friends will be interested. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lee03 0 #5 November 13, 2003 My friend, there are no words to describe the experience of skydiving. The ONLY way a person can understand it is to experience it for themselves! I show my first AFF video to the people that I think will appreciate it. Face it there are some people in this world that will never understand it.. sadly, for them, they are doomed to be woofos all their life. Others will enjoy your video, and some will want to jump, just like you do. I wouldn't sweat it, if they're your friends, they won't avoid you for long.-------- To put your life in danger from time to time ... breeds a saneness in dealing with day-to-day trivialities. --Nevil Shute, Slide Rule Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nightingale 0 #6 November 13, 2003 hehe... they don't get it. the only way they will get it is to try it. which they won't do. so give up. you'll meet lots of new people. I know I did. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lioness 0 #7 November 14, 2003 Well everyone on here pretty much explained it... Your whuffo friendships will def. be affected.. I myself are still friends with a few of my old whuffo friends, but I def. don't see them as much. And they all know when the weather is nice, and I'm not at work... I'm at the dz. Like the other's said, you will make lot's of new skydiver friends that will be interested in your pics and video's. ______________________________________ Be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RoysPlayThing 0 #8 November 14, 2003 I'll be a new friend to you. I get along with whoever will accept me. I don't hate anybody Lany_______________________________________________ My mind is like a parachute...it functions only when open. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andy2 0 #9 November 14, 2003 hmm...an explanation of skydiving? One word: alive Two words: mindblowing clarity --------------------------------------------- let my inspiration flow, in token rhyme suggesting rhythm... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
champu 1 #10 November 14, 2003 skydiving is like joining a cult, we just have a lot more fun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KerMor 0 #11 November 14, 2003 Another signature I often use says it all ... "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand" -- Keith Abner You can't determine the length of your life - but you can control its height and depth. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hawkflight 0 #12 November 14, 2003 Thanks everyone I sure feel better now......but I figue anyone who would'nt want to fly ...must be crazy anyway..and it would probably be better if i stayed away from them.....heheee............................... "Any fool can learn for his own mistakes, a wise man learns from anothers." Mark Twain Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kat1221 0 #13 November 14, 2003 It definitely isn't for everyone - when I first started Dave, my first instructor, told me that when he started skydiving he lost all his friends, but made better ones. I never thought it would happen to me, but it has! I'm still friends with some whuffos, but don't see them as much. One cool thing is that I've met a lot of people interested in skydiving, who have come out with me and we've become friends through that. So don't worry - it just isn't for some people, but you'll meet tons of other cool people through the sport. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
funks 1 #14 November 14, 2003 You will eventually end up driving your friends, family, coworkers, and everyone else that doesnt jump crazy....you will eventually use skydiving as an icebreaker to pick up chicks in a bar, you will talk about it to complete strangers...it will consume you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
themitchyone 0 #15 November 14, 2003 Dude, I so understand. My friends are surely nauseous at hearing more about my AFF . I've practically resorted to telling people on the street. Luckily I work with students, and I manage to get skydiving in my tutoring conversations much of the time. "If the Bible has taught us nothing else, and it hasn't, it's that girls should stick to girl's sports such as hot oil wrestling and foxy boxing." - Homer Simpson Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpinjackflash 0 #16 November 14, 2003 Yeah, what they said!!! Welcome! You'll find, skydivers look at many things very differently. Honestly, I never fit anywhere, ever. I fit here. Its nice to fit. Too cool. Quit fighting the whuffos, the ones that want to try it will find you! To COOL! CONGRATS!!!! jjf Skydiving is the only thing in the world that made me stop thinking about women. When I'm thinking of skydiving, I'm not thinking about women. When I'm thinking about women now? I'm thinking about Women that Skydive!!! SkyChicks are so much hotter!!! It's a gas, gas, gas... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aviatrr 0 #17 November 14, 2003 Quoteas an icebreaker to pick up chicks in a bar, you will talk about it to complete strangers...it will consume you. Dude....you need serious help if it consumes you so much...it's only a sport...and a shitty sport at that! I don't tell anybody I do it. If anybody asks, I deny ever having tried it. People really look down on you like a freak if you tell 'em. I mean, it's not a "sport" for REAL men....we ARE talking about GOLF, right? Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpinfarmer 0 #18 November 14, 2003 ditto I have troble not sneeking jumping into the conversation somehow. None of my whuffo friends are converted yet but I'm still working on it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DJatLarge 0 #19 November 14, 2003 I have found myself constantly talking about "the weekend before" for most of Mon, Tue, and Wed. at work. I tend to drive people nuts about it as well. Some of them say they want to go, others just wish i would go away. Make friends at the DZ, and thumb your nose at the whuffo's that don't wanna get it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dagny 0 #20 November 14, 2003 I learned very quickly to shut the hell up about skydiving because no one wanted to hear it but the people I jump with. So now, if someone asks, I answer their questions but I try not to elaborate too much because it bores my whuffo friends. I will say this, though, about skydiving. I felt like I found "my people" when I walked onto a dz. No one called me crazy for the sports I enjoy or my interests. In fact, a lot of people share the same interests. It's nice to be somewhere and not have someone trying to diagnose me as a "thrill seeking personality", but just accepting me for who I am. I'm learning that just because my whuffo friends think they need to "fix" me and save me from myself (skydiving), doesn't mean I'm broken. One suggestion, though...don't try to convert your friends. Don't change for them...and don't change them for you. It's about acceptance, isn't it?Take me, I am the drug; take me, I am hallucinogenic. -Salvador Dali Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slingblade 0 #21 November 14, 2003 Interesting post EYEball. Suspected as much. Tell us again about your bad friends. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LivingInClip 0 #22 November 14, 2003 Same situation. Haven't made first jump, but it consumes my thoughts and conversations. People are tired of hearing about it. Friends, family and work-mates want me to shut up. So , what do I do? I surf the 'net at work and talk on this board. :D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vonSanta 0 #23 November 14, 2003 Kiss your whuffo friends goodbye They'll get bored with your stories and you'll start to regard them with odd eyes, since they live in the human rat race and just don't get what Life is about. The only whuffo friends you'll retain are the *real* friends. At least that's how it's been for me. OTOH, I have made new ones with the same mindset as me. And it sure is nice to be "normal" - the abnormal people being whuffos Santa Von GrossenArsch I only come in one flavour ohwaitthatcanbemisunderst Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faber 0 #24 November 14, 2003 so guess what,you has the fault would you like to listen to them and hear about them cleaning their houses? i dont think so.. people get borred by seeing and listning to the same over and over again,even you do Try to keep it abit inside you as you are whith thouse freinds,you will get alot new freinds at dz,but you should be a SHITTY freind if you drop your freinds becours of a sport.... just my .2 but im just me so who care??? By the way i has experienced som of the same but realized that it wasnt fair to my other freinds... Stay safe Stefan Faber Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AllyMilne 0 #25 November 14, 2003 Quoteskydiving is like joining a cult, we just have a lot more fun so when they ask if you want to go to the pub on sat you just reply, sorry 'cult meeting'. Sounds a bit more mysteroius.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
