Alex Lella's Blog

Skydiving

I have been prompted to write a blog entry on skydiving.

Sure, why not?

I remember when I was in elementary school, some of my classmates used to go around daring each other to do things in strange ways. Like once, there was a boy who said, "Would you jump off the Brooklyn bridge for a hundred dollars?" (Answer from most of us: No way!) But there was one wise guy in my class who said with a satisfied smile, "I would." After we had all looked at him like he was crazy, he said, "I didn't say I wouldn't use a parachute."

I really wish I could go back in time and tell that smartass what I know now about parachutes. (which isn't even all that much, but it's enough to put him back in his place.) For one thing, you can't just "use a parachute" it takes practice and know-how. Furthermore, if you jumped off the Brooklyn bridge, you'd probably end up in the water with a deployed parachute on your back, so I hope you're a good swimmer. Plus, when I told someone else this story, he suggested that the Brooklyn bridge wasn't high enough for a parahute to break your fall and save your life.

Anyway, the other question is whether, I would try it. Well, I actually thought about it once. But, you know, I have this fear of finding out that I'm afraid. No really, I always worried that if I went up in an airplane to skydive, I would find, at the moment of truth, that I just couldn't bring myself to jump, and then I'd feel like a total loser.

I believe it was Mark Twain who said, "Better to say nothing and be a thought a fool, then to open your mouth and remove all doubt." Similarly, it's better to stay on the ground and be thought a coward than to go skydiving and remove all doubt.