Screwing stuff up and guilt factor....

[masterblaster72 0]

I botched two landings recently, both right near the runway, one that nicked some trees. Luckily the canopy wasn't damaged after an inspection. I miscalculated wind, got caught too far down, and recovered by the skin of my teeth.

In addition to being embarrassed, I felt a certain guilt from f.cking up, scaring others and perhaps losing the trust of those at the dropzone. I didn't get that sense though, people seemed pretty cool about it.

Needless to say it's a lesson learned and it won't happen again, but I may have disappointed some because I did it not once but twice.

I'd be interested in hearing how experienced jumpers view these kinds of incidents and how they feel it affects them and the sport itself -- please give your 2 cents. Thanks!

Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

[masterblaster72 0]

I forgot to mention those were jumps #30 and 31 for me, in case you might want to know.

Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

[tigra 0]

Two things- trust and respect are things you need to earn AND people expect newbies to f*ck up from time to time. (actually EVERYBOBY f*cks up sometimes!) So learn from your mistakes, and work on your canopy control and landings. If you lost a little trust and respect of some of the more experienced jumpers, you'll just have to earn it back. The important thing is you weren't hurt and you KNOW you got lucky!

[nvanduyn 0]

well I highly doubt you did it intentionally and everyone at the DZ knows this. Learn from your mistakes like everyone does and move on.

Also, remember to replace what you break :p I somehow broke a packing tool of a staff memeber learning how to pack, and felt horrible. She refused to let me buy her another so I went to the DZO and had money deposited into her account.

Stuff like that will go a long way.

------
-Nick

[Reginald 0]

People at the DZ will form judgments of you based on how you handle the situation. Everyone screws up, particularly newer jumpers. If experienced jumpers came up to you and tried to give you advice and you were humble and accepting than I doubt anyone would think a thing of it. If however, you refused to listen and said that you were fine or knew how to fix it and didn’t need any help then they would probably think less of you. It that simple.

"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

[jdfreefly 1]

I was there and saw them both.

Honestly, it worries me a little that you did it twice in the same day in the same conditions. But as you have been told, no one got hurt, it's ok.

All we really want is to know that you are learning from those mistakes. Often, when a guy with low jump numbers has something like this happen, they become ashamed and dissapear. Don't do that. You aren't going to learn anything sitting at home.

In fact, you should be at the dz trying to get back up asap. If you think you have learned something from this, go out and prove it. Bad weather days like today, I am looking out my window at some clouds right now, are great days to go out, hang around, find an instructor and pick their brain about canopy control. There are plenty of people at that dz that would be more than happy to help you out, all you have to do is ask.

As Doug said to you when he picked you up, every one of us has screwed up. What differentiates people is what they learn from their mistakes, and the mistakes of others.

Methane Freefly - got stink?

[masterblaster72 0]

I thought that someone who was there was going to see my posting. Thanks a lot for your message.

It troubles me too that I made the same mistake twice -- I did seven jumps on Tuesday 10 May and didn't do that bad on any of my landings.

I had the thought on the way back from the runway the second time that I should disappear and find another dropzone like others you mentioned have done. After the canopy inspection, I wanted to get back up there and prove to myself and others that I'd get it right -- exactly as you advised in your message -- but the conditions changed to an A license minimum, so after an hour of waiting I went home.

The next jump or two that I do, hopefully next weekend, will be a canopy control coaching jump with Heath as the rigger advised. If he's not available it'll definitely be with someone else.

I can imagine that this kind of sh.t -- especially twice -- tests your patience. The runway is a dangerous place and it could have been a real situation if someone was taking off. It's a lesson learned but it's not good for anyone that it was done more than once in one day.

I owe Doug a beer and I was looking for him later but didn't find him. I owe you one too and the guys who picked me up the second time. You'll get my appreciation no doubt.

Glad I'm welcome back to CK, been to other dz's and nothing compares to the vibe at CK. Thanks again to you and to the others who dealt with it.

Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

[nbblood 0]

Personally, a guy that messes up, realizes it, takes responsibility and tries to learn from it is ok in my book. What bothers me is those that so "oh well, no big deal". So don't take it too hard, but at the same time, don't forget. Sounds to me like you are responsible for your own actions. Good for you. In my opinion that's more than half the battle.

Blues,
Nathan

Blues,
Nathan

If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

[monkycndo 0]

Hey PG, I blew it on my last jump. Pulled low and scared the hell out of the people who saw what happened. I owe each one of them beer. The rest of the folks at the DZ took their turn to tell me to NEVER do that again, then asked if I wanted to go up on the next load. If you landed safe, it was a successful skydive. Just like nbblood said, take responsibility, ask for suggestions to learn how to improve and keep jumping. As my grandpa always said, Don't make the same mistake, there are plenty of new ones to go around.

Monkeyboy

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[jdfreefly 1]

Don't sweat it.

Have a beer with Doug or I and we can tell you about all the times we received a stern talking to for the stupid stuff we did when we were learning.

Methane Freefly - got stink?