Friday, April 3, 2009

Jumping From A Plane

Some of us are more adventurous than others, that's a given. I'm not one of those who would go willingly out of a perfectly good plane. I wouldn't even entertain the idea of leaving a perfectly good plane. The cringe factor is there is living color.

Saying that, I'll relate that I have trouble getting a handle on why someone else would see that as a 'must do' in their life. To take a piece of cloth and head into the sky with all intentions of opening the door of the plane and taking a flying leap.... yep... strange to my way of thinking.

I'd almost like to blame it on male thinking, but know that would be unfair and not the least bit accurate. I'd get seriously censured.

This whole rambling thinking has to do with son Right Back. You may recall that I've dubbed him that due to his habit of disappearing when I have something I really want him to do. He often gets some serious look on his face and says, 'I'll be right back.' Yes, that is what he does.

So.... Right Back was influenced lately into a renewed craving to jump from a perfectly good plane. Oh... nothing would do but he go skydiving. He'd thought about it before, but I do believe this was his first jump. If he has done this before, it is one of those things he has kept from his mother. Imagine that!

I knew he was going and had thought about it a couple of times during the day. I really did pray things would go well if he was going to insist on skydiving. I did get a call from him in the evening on his cell phone. I asked if he had jumped. He said that he had. I asked what he was doing, and he said that he and his friend were in the pharmacy waiting for his medicine. WHAT?!

The diving was wonderful... just WONDERFUL!! The landing was a bit rough and not quite accurate. It seems that Right Back would pay with a broken ankle. He had been in Nearby Large City at the hospital getting some damage control health care.

I, of course, was not amused. He, of course, was full of how wonderful skydiving is and how he will do it again someday.

I'm afraid he didn't luck out with anything simple. He has had surgery on his ankle and a lovely plate put in. He has been resting his behind on his sofa with his foot up. There is to be zero weight on his foot. He has a few more days before he goes back to see the surgeon. I think he is bored almost to death. I hope he is enjoying the memories of the dive. (I say that with tongue in cheek.) Bad Momma. He actually called me a bit ago to ask what day it was. I told him that it is Friday. 'Oh,' he said and hung up.

I don't know if Right Back is just trying to put on a good face through this ordeal, but he still seems to think it was wonderful and he would like to do it again some day.

I've done my duty in threatening him. I've tried to do this in a nonverbal way. I'm thinking he should consider the pain and suffering and the lost work. I'm hoping that at some point he might just figure out that his moment in the sky has cost him a lot. On the other hand, he has inside the knowledge that he can, indeed, fling himself into space. Perhaps that shows courage. I know I don't have that kind of courage. He is a risk taker. I'm not.

I suppose I'm really glad deep down inside that there are those who are risk takers. Our world would certainly be in trouble if everyone were the same. If no one took risks and pushed themselves beyond their comfort zones, be that out a plane door or any other challenging thing, we would be a boring lot.

I would hope at times that we all take risks. Perhaps we do, and it just means we get outside our comfort zones and do something that is a tad risky to us. I'll have to think on that one. In the meantime, I'll be dusting the house. I won't be jumping out of a plane.

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