whuffo talk and all that

[wildblue 7]

Here's how I see it (which in no way means it's right)
First of all, I don't really think you can draw a comparison between wuffos and squids. Wuffos and cagers would be more accurate.
Look - with any culture or community of a specific activity, you have those who understand, and those who don't. We tend to make fun of those who don't because of their views of us for doing what it is we do. No matter what you do, if you boyfriend/girlfriend/friends in general don't understand it, they may not be your friend for awhile.
To show a couple different levels of this:
Let's say you're a computer geek. If your friends tire of you "geeking out" with your other geek friends, they may not want to be around as much. The geeks out there know exactly what I mean - you talk computers a lot. And you don't think we make fun of the computer illiterate? C'mon, I almost bought a shirt one time that said "You are dumb" in binary. We all share a good laugh over the latest luser story now and then.
People who ride bikes, may sit around and tell bullshit (and most of them are bullshit) stories and bitch about cagers. They don't understand why we do it - how many times have you heard "Why do you ride that death machine? Donor-cycle rider. My brother/cousin/roommate/uncle died on one of those things" You don't understand it.. doesn't mean you have to bash it. I dunno.. call it retaliation - we'll sit around and bitch about you and your cell phone talkin no paying attention soccer mom way to fucking big SUV cage driving ass.
Again, if your boyfriend/girlfriend has a serious problem with you riding, chances are you're not gonna last together.
If you jump, you're going to talk about jumping a lot, it's something you know, it something you enjoy (a lot) you're going to talk about it all the time. It's exciting to just relive! I don't think most of us get overly carried away - just completely blowing off our "wuffo friends" - but we probably do tend to annoy them with our constant excitement over something they don't understand. They make stupid comments about "can you breath in a cloud?" We find it funny because they don't know and don't understand something that we know very well. Geeks laugh at those who don't understand the difference between megabytes and megahertz. Bikers laugh at the people who drive through the world they ride in. Do any of these groups feel they're better than the ones that don't participate in their activity or have their knowledge? Maybe. Not in a god complex type better, but just better because they know something these other people don't... kinda like when you have some juicy gossip on someone, you have that feeling of power over them. Maybe we feel superior. Even that might be too strong of a word.
But anyway, that's what I got on it.. take it or leave it.
Never argue with stupid people.They just drag you down 2 their level & beat you with experience

[GrumpySmurf 0]

"Let's say you're a computer geek. "
I always get a kick out my 'computer literate friends' who's skill set involved piecing together a simple Linux Box and getting a subscription to 'Wired' who try to talk 'shop' in a bar - a guarenteed way to get laid, I tell ya *heh*
I dunno about other folk who work with the beasts, but the last thing I bloody wanna do in a bar on a Friday after banging out embedded code all day for 5 days straight is talk about what new '18x - DDRSDSCIIDE 256/512 Mb RAM V2.34 ... whatever' module they got at Comp Usa for thier Linux box.
*shrug* Just curious to see if I am alone in this?

[AndyMan 7]

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I always get a kick out my 'computer literate friends' who's skill set involved piecing together a simple Linux Box and getting a subscription to 'Wired' who try to talk 'shop' in a bar - a guarenteed way to get laid, I tell ya *heh*

I think you just hit the nail on the head.
See, I am a geek. Or at least I play one at work. I've been in e-commerce for years. I've worked on www.molson.com, www.littletikes.com, www.rubbermaid.com - and bunch of killer e-commerce stars that I'm under contract not to name. I know Java, C++, Perl, PHP and .Net inside out. I could write a book on any of these. In fact, I've had offers to write a book on these.
When I hang out in bars, I don't talk computer shop. I do get laid.
The same is true here. I'm a skydiver, I'm the best skydiver I can be right now, and I'm constantly working on getting better. At some point I hope I'll have a reputation that I do in the IT industry. Despite this, I guarantee you'll never see me making fun of whuffos. My ex was a whuffo actually, and the fact that she didn't jump had nothing to do with us breaking up. Not only that, but despite the fact that I've been a skydiver for three years now, I'm just as close if not closer with my non-jumping friends. I'm proud of being a skydiver, my friends enjoy seeing my latest videos. I encourage them to give it a try, but I'm certainly not going to redicule them for refusing. They do their own cool things.
Far too often people dismiss negative comments by saying "aw, I was just joking". I'm a firm believer that jokes are really just a excuse for people to show their true colors. I know this is true when my father tells sexist jokes, of my brother tells racist jokes. I suspect that those who're making the most fun of whuffos here actually BELIEVE that skydiving makes them better then the whuffos. Skydving makes you different, not better.
Making fun of whuffos is no different then the geek who makes fun of the technophile. Guess what? Being a Skygod won't get you laid either.
_Am

[GrumpySmurf 0]

www.molson.com - so do you have to over 19 (18 in PQ, Manitoba, and Alberta) and drunk to work on it? *heh* That would kick ass.
Then again you would have to be drunk to understand it then, maybe self defeating - since one would want sober people to go to the site to entice them to try your beer. Oh well.
I think my whuffo friends know more about this sport than most AFP 1's do *heh* Hopefully they will give it a try. At least then they can't call me stupid for doing it. I feel that when I am out with skydiving friends, I want to talk about all the other stuff in thier lives (some skydiving stuff is good too, especially if it's a funny story) - to see them as complete people - not just skydivers - the sport brings us together - but it does not define completely who we are, nor does the lack of skydiving in a whuffo define who they are. *shrug* just my $0.02 worth.

[AndyMan 7]

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www.molson.com - so do you have to over 19 (18 in PQ, Manitoba, and Alberta) and drunk to work on it? *heh* That would kick ass. Then again you would have to be drunk to understand it then, maybe self defeating - since one would want sober people to go to the site to entice them to try your beer. Oh well."

I suspect you would have to be 19. One of the perks of working for Molson was a free lunch in the cafeteria. The cafeteria had a bar attached, that we all hit after lunch. If you weren't 19, you weren't allowed into the cafeteria for lunch. All this at their offices in downtown Toronto, not even at a plant.
I won't go into the free beer they gave us every week. That would make you cry.
_Am

[GrumpySmurf 0]

Sounds like a newfie's dream come true *heh* Except I would guess it would involve that..umm..what do you call that..that..umm..'work' thing, yeah 'work', that's it. Not very good at dealing with that 'work' thing.

[AndyMan 7]

I loved it when my coworkers went to NewfieLand. They'd always smuggle back Black Horse.
Ummm. Black Horse.
_Am

[wildblue 7]

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I dunno about other folk who work with the beasts, but the last thing I bloody wanna do in a bar on a Friday after...

I tend to throw popcorn at those people, and tell them to shut up.
I guess there's a time and place for talking shop, but at the bar or dz is not one of those times or places.
Never argue with stupid people.They just drag you down 2 their level & beat you with experience

[GrumpySmurf 0]

"The Black Horse runs by here..."
There were a few morn where it felt like the bloody horse ran me over then backed up to do it again.
As I tell my friends here in Wi - "Newfoundland, where the beer is cheap and the women are cheaper."

[Jessica 0]

Okay, you know what? I want to see some examples of honest-to-god, malicious mocking of whuffos. I really do. From this forum. Someone PM them to me, please, or post them sans poster's name.
I think, when we start drawing parallels between our chatter here and racist/sexist jokes, we're starting to take ourselves waaaaaay too seriously.
For the record: some of my best friends are whuffos.
Oh man, I just cracked myself up....Walk a mile in your enemy's shoes. Then you're a mile away and have his shoes.

[skyhawk 2]

For the record: some of my best roots where with whuffos.
(o)(o)

[scottbre 0]

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I think, when we start drawing parallels between our chatter here and racist/sexist jokes, we're starting to take ourselves waaaaaay too seriously.

You're just saying that cause you're a girl.
"Let the rabbits wear glasses. . . "

[billvon 3,090]

>When I hang out in bars, I don't talk computer shop. I do get laid.
Yuck! Did that once (met someone in a bar and got laid) and that was more than enough.
>Despite this, I guarantee you'll never see me making fun of whuffos.
Not me. I can guarantee you'll find me making fun of whuffos, non-whuffos and skygods if you look closely enough. There's no one out there who's immune.
>Not only that, but despite the fact that I've been a skydiver for three years now, I'm just as close if not closer with my non-jumping friends.
Funny, but until you brought that up, I hadn't really segregated my jumping from my non-jumping friends. I don't separate them in other parts of my life (camping trips, parties etc.) And there are some that are half and half - Nikki, who did one tandem; Leslie and Molly, who used to jump but are not going to for some time (injuries) and Kim, who went through AFF and quit.
>I'm proud of being a skydiver, my friends enjoy seeing my latest videos.
I used to subject people to my videos, but I don't any more. More than about a minute of any skydiving video is enough to make most people's eyes glaze over, and I have about twenty hours of tape. (Though sometimes I threaten them with that, if I need some leverage.)
>I encourage them to give it a try, but I'm certainly not going to redicule them for refusing. They do their own cool things.
Well, some do and some don't. I've known a few remarkable couch potatoes who simply don't do cool things (unless power eating, beer drinking and marathon TV watching are cool things.) These people are rare in skydiving, but seem common in the general population.
>Far too often people dismiss negative comments by saying "aw, I was just joking". I'm a firm believer that jokes are really
>just a excuse for people to show their true colors.
Or they are an attempt to be funny. I guess your interpretation depends on how cynically you're looking at other people's motivations.
>Making fun of whuffos is no different then the geek who makes fun of the technophile. Guess what? Being a Skygod won't get you laid either.
Really? Skydiving seems to work better than going to a bar, getting drunk, then finding someone equally or more drunk and going home with them. At least for me. And your average skydiving woman is ten times as interesting as your average bargoing woman, which is a nice filter.
-bill von

[skymedic 0]

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I've known a few remarkable couch potatoes who simply don't do cool........ These people are rare in skydiving, but seem common in the general population.

That's me....saturday night and I am on the puter and not out.....but no power eating for me!!!!
marc
"...a mind stretched with new idea's will never regain its shape"

[base698 20]

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As for danger, well try cave diving, probably the most dangerous sport in the world.

You're probably right that on a case to case basis a lot of stuff is more dangerous than skydiving. There is always going to be something missing though... Intensity. In skydiving and other parachuting activities There is always some degree of pressure, so when the times comes to deal with a problem you are more apt to deal with it. Anyway that's why I'll always skydive and do other parachuting activities. So in short you get the view of all the other aviation activities and you have the intensity too.

[skreamer 1]

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For the record: some of my best friends are whuffos.

Sure, sure - ALL the whuffophobics say that....

(skyhawk - you might want to tell the yanks what 'root' means in Australia... hehe)
"Don't die until you're dead"

[StevieBoy 0]

Hey skreamer
hehehe, spent a month in Perth, W.A.
You should have seen some of my friends faces when I told them me & my girlfriend had been rooting through our suitcases to find clothes to wear for a night out.
If that dide'nt top it off they told us most of the guy's walk around the clubs in thongs, night was canclled till someone pointed out they were flip flops,
on the whuffo stuff, most people i know have stories to tell about there week, when i ask them about thiers, they tell me, i listen & when asked about mine, I tell them, EASY.
"Skydiving's a source, it'll change your life, swear to God"

[skyhawk 2]

You should have seen some of my friends faces when I told them me & my girlfriend had been rooting through our suitcases to find clothes to wear for a night out.
he he for all you US ppl a root is sex
thus my bets SEX was with wuffoos
If that dide'nt top it off they told us most of the guy's walk around the clubs in thongs, night was canclled till someone pointed out they were flip flops,
maby you where just going to the wrong type of bars lol
(o)(o)