I turned the news on this morning and the first story I watched was, Man Hurt In Crash Sues Skydiving Company.  You don’t really need to watch the video to get the gist of the story, it’s fairly self explanatory.

As some of you may recall, I recently lost a contest in which the prize was a skydiving jump.  I am not ashamed to say that the mere thought of winning the prize was terrifying, but I’m sure nothing in comparison to actually winning.  By the way, congratulations Chanel!

Today I imagined that I did win that prize and then watched this news story.  One thing that the man says is that he wasn’t shown the 15 minute instructional video before going up in the plane, therefore, he didn’t know how to land.  Um, that’s kind of a big deal.  Isn’t landing really the only thing you have to know how to do when skydiving?  I mean, there’s the whole parachute thing, but he was jumping tandem so I assume that pulling the ripcord is left solely up to that dude on your back.  Also, if the parachute doesn’t open, well, then you aren’t really landing so much as slamming into the ground.

Don’t get me wrong, I feel for this guy.  I really do, but why not speak up?  What’s wrong with saying “You forgot to show me the video that was promised in the brochure.”  I understand having your mind set on doing something and then bypassing some minor details to ensure it’s completion, but this guy decided to go up in the plane without watching the video, 15 lbs heavier than the suggested weight limit and without a helmet.  At the very least he should have realized that the company he was jumping with didn’t have their shit together!

I really question whether or not I would have had the courage to jump out of a plane after watching this story.  I can say with almost complete certainty that my hopes at skydiving have passed for the time being.  Nothing was ever holding me back from doing it up until this point.  Sure, it’s pricey, but it’s not like it’s an unheard of amount.  I guarantee I have wasted more money on less in my life.  Winning the contest would have been that extra push to make me do it and without that push, I can just go back to my day to day life as someone who hasn’t jumped out of a plane.