When I think back on it, I have to wonder what ever
possessed me to plummet a couple of hundred feet off of a little
basket hanging on a crane, secured only by some velcro and a big
rubber band. It may have been a macho thing... or maybe it was a
mid-30's age thing... But I'm pretty sure it was all my friend
Kevin's fault. If HE had just realized that it was a goofy thing
to do, then maybe I would have been bright enough to stay on the
ground. When the subject FIRST came up, it appeared that many
from our group of happy worker drones would be taking the death
leap together. At the actual "event" however... only 3
of us seemed ready to go, although MANY people showed up to watch
us. Some of whom I hadn't seen in awhile. Kind of a circling
buzzard scenario.
The third lunatic on this trip had already done this once
before... hey... maybe it's all HIS fault.
Anyway..After getting all the instructions and
"pre-flight" setup out of the way, I found myself the
first one in the basket... rising higher and higher over the
Carnival ferris wheel below. It appeared to me now to be about
the same size as a ping pong ball, and I began to understand why
looking down caused many people to have a change of heart. (or as
my wife put it upon exiting the basket after it's return to terra
firma...."no f'ing way".)
Standing at the edge of the basket looking down.. I summoned up
my courage.. and dove over the edge. (the courage summoning part
turned out to be surprisingly easy as I realized that it would be
easier to DIE than it would be to wuss out in front of 40
people.) It really didn't feel all that much different than the
30 foot bridge jumps we used to make into a nearby canal full of
nasty brown water. Well... it did last quite a bit longer...and I
was going quite a bit FASTER... and I was staring at an oyster
shell parking lot zooming up at me at a tad over warp factor 6.
It was also interesting to note that from this particular angle
it was obvious that we would have MISSED the inflatable air bag
below by a good 15 feet to the LEFT.( Who need's it anyway.)
Suddenly I began to slow...stopped... "sproinged" back
up a few times.. and then it was over. Hmmm.... lessee... no
splat... no urine running into my armpits.. no small feathered
creatures in my nose. I'm cool.
On the ground I received my Certificate of leapage... along with
the knowledge that I had ascended to a level above that of mere
Mortals. I drove home at 70 mph on only two wheels and was
invincible for the next few weeks.
The "sport" has now been banned here... and to those
humans who have leapt from a perfectly functional airplane, I am
but a tiny bit above a mere mortal. But I can still summon up a
bit of that invincibility in my daily activities, and it has
helped me to overcome many of life's speed bumps.
This SHOULD be really deep and philosophical.. soul shaking
mayhaps. (It's not.. but I did learn this.) Sometimes it's cool
to do stupid things JUST because they ARE stupid and sometimes it
is GOOD to do things that make everyone else realize you are
nuts, even if it means losing your Sponsorship from
"Depends".
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