narcimund

"A granfalloon is a proud and meaningless association of human beings." --Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle First Class Citizen Twice Over

SBS, this is the clearest, most thoughtful way of putting it I've seen yet. That's exactly what I've been trying to say. Thanks! First Class Citizen Twice Over

If you go to a parade and express distaste, of COURSE they'll condemn that. If someone came to your DZ and announced that they find skydiving offensive, they'd get an earful from the jumpers. If you walked into a church and scoffed at their beliefs, they'll give you the same response. How strange it is to walk up to ANY group and challenge their basic group identity expecting anything else. And the same thing would be true if you kissed YOUR partner on Market St. How refreshing it is to be ignored equally. You're right. I follow the same rules of decorum that I expect of straight couples. But that's the ONLY reason I don't make out with my boyfriend in front of strangers. Not because I think gay people should keep it in private, but because I think EVERYONE should. But private is different from secret. I think couples should be intimate in private, but couples don't have to keep their relationships secret. I see nothing amiss in holding hands, talking about our joint home, making dinner plans together, giving a quick kiss hello or goodbye, or otherwise acting like an adult couple in public. I also don't object to straight people talking about their private interests, especially in a rowdy free-for-all forum like dropzone.com. I celebrate that! All I ask is you respect that I -- a fellow skydiver -- can and will do the same. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Since your profile says your name is Becky, I doubt any gay men will be hitting on you!

Hey! I want credit too. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Andy, yeah, I did. BTW, I usually like the abbreviation "Narci" better than "Narc". First Class Citizen Twice Over

Strange analogy. Let's backtrack a second. Richard suggested that homosexuals should remain silent and closeted about who they are attracted to. I suggested (in jest only) that if he would remain silent and closeted, I would also. My point was that homosexuals keeping their sexuality hidden is just like heterosexuals keeping all sexuality hidden. However, your new idea of a homosexual-free club is a new and interesting one. Would I allow it? I have no say over it. Would I join it? No, I wouldn't be allowed to nor would it interest me. Would I tell people I thought it was silly? Yes, I might. I haven't said anyone is forced to listen, so I'm not sure what you're objecting to. All I've done is spoken (fairly gently, I think). Richard has suggested that I and others like me shouldn't do that. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Actually, I only see two people who've discussed their own homosexuality and both of us have done so before. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Richard, if you never ever mention liking girls, never bring a girlfriend to the DZ, never hold hands with a girl, or marry a girl, then I'll stay in the closet. Fair? To be perfectly clear, I don't think I "came out of the closet." Instead, I brought my boyfriend to the DZ because he thought he'd like to make some jumps. Turns out he liked it a lot and he's now a regular (just made jump #50.) We're gay (duh!) and it shows. We'd have to go to some effort to hide it just like you'd have to go to effort to bring a girlfriend to the DZ every week without people figuring out you're a couple. We do not make out in the packing tent, but neither do we pretend we're "just buddies." Is it your opinion that we should do something differently? First Class Citizen Twice Over

I don't think everyone's enjoying this discussion as much as some of us are. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Moby? MOBY??? First Class Citizen Twice Over

According to what I'm reading in this thread, most people get it. Take a deep breath. It's ok. First Class Citizen Twice Over

CHEER! First Class Citizen Twice Over

I'm not going to. It's not my style. But if someone else did, I'd cheer 'em on. Fair's fair. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Quade, forgive gay people for being a little cautious and worried. There's a lot of history here. And dropzone.com is WAY too straight not to trigger our warning circuits. If gay bars are at one extreme, dropzone.com is the other end. That's a little weird. We have good reason for testing the waters before making ourselves at home. First Class Citizen Twice Over

I've don't know anyone at either of my dropzones who care one way or another about me and my boyfriend being gay. We haven't stood up on a table and screamed it to the world, but anyone with eyeballs in their head has figured it out. I mean, come on! We show up together. We leave together. We hang out together. We live together. We pay for jumps from a joint checking account. A little while ago I wrote a post in the Incidents forum about a small mal that happened to my boyfriend. The only response was a nice PM from someone saying, "Thanks for not being afraid to say that." I can't tell if Vern here is just being a troll... I hope not. But I'm sure there's lots of gay/dyke jumpers on dropzone.com who're wondering the same question. Thanks for bringing it up. Oh, and in response to the comment above saying "Keep it in PMs," I say: straight jumpers can crow about sex but gay jumpers should whisper in secret? Bah! First Class Citizen Twice Over

A lot of people confuse the word "illegal" for "dangerous" or "bad." A better synonym for "illegal" would be "unpopular." First Class Citizen Twice Over

223 jumps over 18 years (with more than 10 years time off) = .0339 jumps/day But I'm working on it! First Class Citizen Twice Over

Hmmm. What year did Disney stop doing tickets? It's been a long time. For those who don't remember, Disneyland used to give visitors a book of tickets to use on rides. The book had a lot of A-tickets for the really slow, lame rides like the teacups, fewer B-tickets for the slightly more interesting rides, etc. There were just a couple of E-tickets for the really COOL rides like Matterhorn, Space Mountain, etc. So E-ticket means the "bestest most coolest" ride in the whole park. First Class Citizen Twice Over

I have about 100 RW jumps without an altimeter at all. My eyes might not be as precise as an altimeter, but they're more reliable. I know what 3000 feet looks like every time, but altimeters can stop working. People can also forget to look at their altimeter, but the planet's right in front of you bigger than anything. Besides, if you're relying on instruments to tell you what your eyes are so good at knowing, it's easy to ignore the signals all around you and lose track of altitude. Last year after 10 years not jumping I got back in the sport. I've been using an altimeter since then. I've noticed that I'm not as aware of the visual signals as I used to be. That makes me a little nervous and sad. First Class Citizen Twice Over

June 8, 1984. Pacific Parachute Center, Sheridan Oregon. Army Surplus army green modified T-10 main, belly reserve, capewells, no AAD, 3000' S/L. Lots of PLFs on this and future jumps! First Class Citizen Twice Over

Most skydiver bounces happen on the ground too. There's a real theme here. The ground is the cause of all these aviation troubles. No wonder I try to get away from the ground whenever I can! First Class Citizen Twice Over

What I was suggesting is for the forum posts list to display the date the thread was initiated. Asking people to timestamp their own is a way to do the same thing without bothering you. Currently a lot of space is devoted to showing the complete date and time of the last post in the thread. It seems to me the date and time of the first post in the thread is at least as useful. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Looks like someone didn't want this suggestion in the incidents forum. Fair enough, but rather than move it to Suggestions (where there's already a thread on the same subject) I wish it had just been deleted. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Wow. That brings all sorts of possible questions and connections to mind. First Class Citizen Twice Over