I recently saw a show where a man was going bungee jumping. It reminded me of a time long ago…
Remember those six months at Ricks? (which by the way was the name of a topless bar in Seattle, so when you told people you were “going to Ricks” – you got some laughs) Anywho…So, as I was saying. Remember those dateless, boyless, full of whine days I told you about? Well, I have a good story for you.
It was homecoming and my good friend Holly and I had – shocker – no dates. So we loaded in to my 1986 gray Mazda 626 (same car that carried the fire hose) and went out on the town, to see what we could see. Ever been to Rexburg? Let’s just say, it was a pretty short trip. But to our happy surprise, there happened to be a ‘traveling’ bungee jumping crane in the grocery store parking lot. We drove by and thought, hmm? Why not?
We didn’t have any thing better to do.
As we get out of the car, we noticed there were only girls in line for this blessed event. Ha. Homecoming at Ricks. Should I have guessed anything else? (remember the 3 to 1 ratio) So we get in line, pay our thirty dollars and watch the girls ahead of us go. Oh, they were the biggest wimps. I mean, whine, “ohhhh, I can’t jump” or “I’m sooo scared!” Blah. Blah. Blah.
Well, Holly is about as quiet and nothing, much like myself. So we had to razz the little miss prisses. “Jump you wimp!!!” we yelled. “Come on you sissy – hurry up!” And so on. Let’s just say, not my finest moment. We were ruthless. A full fledge nightmare of a peanut gallery.
As our turn arrives, I tell Holly I’ll go first. I get in the basket of the crane, and up we go. Remember, this is a ‘traveling’ bungee jumping thing. It’s pitch dark, the wind in HOWLING – as it only can in the artic of eastern Idaho. Suddenly I start thinking. Something I hadn’t done prior to this point in the evening. I’m thinking things like; could they even see very well when the hooked the harness up? I mean it is ten o clock at night in a parking lot. And, how safe could jumping off a crane onto asphalt really be? And, holy CRAP! What am I thinking??!!!
And now Holly is heckling me! “Hurry up, you chicken!” Uhhhh. Ummm. Uhhhhh. I really don’t want to do this. I have no shame. “Can you jump with me,” I say to the guy. “I want to go down.” I mutter. “If you go down you lose your thirty bucks – just jump” He says. Aaaaah. Mmmm. (up to this point every single girl has jumped – no one backed out. Until me.) Finally the guy looks me right in the eyes, I can still see his bright blue eyes today, “Just *#*##blankin’ jump!” He yells as me.
That’s it! NO one talks to me like that!!!! (hurumph!!!) “Take me down, NOW!!” And down we went to a hysteric Holly you was laughing her pants off. And up she went and walked off the edge like she was jumping in a pool. Laughing and screaming the whole time.
Funny thing is - I’ve never regretted it. I like to think it was one of my wiser moments in my life. After weighing all the odds, I like to think a more intelligent person would have chosen what I did.
Okay. And a total chicken.
Remember those six months at Ricks? (which by the way was the name of a topless bar in Seattle, so when you told people you were “going to Ricks” – you got some laughs) Anywho…So, as I was saying. Remember those dateless, boyless, full of whine days I told you about? Well, I have a good story for you.
It was homecoming and my good friend Holly and I had – shocker – no dates. So we loaded in to my 1986 gray Mazda 626 (same car that carried the fire hose) and went out on the town, to see what we could see. Ever been to Rexburg? Let’s just say, it was a pretty short trip. But to our happy surprise, there happened to be a ‘traveling’ bungee jumping crane in the grocery store parking lot. We drove by and thought, hmm? Why not?
We didn’t have any thing better to do.
As we get out of the car, we noticed there were only girls in line for this blessed event. Ha. Homecoming at Ricks. Should I have guessed anything else? (remember the 3 to 1 ratio) So we get in line, pay our thirty dollars and watch the girls ahead of us go. Oh, they were the biggest wimps. I mean, whine, “ohhhh, I can’t jump” or “I’m sooo scared!” Blah. Blah. Blah.
Well, Holly is about as quiet and nothing, much like myself. So we had to razz the little miss prisses. “Jump you wimp!!!” we yelled. “Come on you sissy – hurry up!” And so on. Let’s just say, not my finest moment. We were ruthless. A full fledge nightmare of a peanut gallery.
As our turn arrives, I tell Holly I’ll go first. I get in the basket of the crane, and up we go. Remember, this is a ‘traveling’ bungee jumping thing. It’s pitch dark, the wind in HOWLING – as it only can in the artic of eastern Idaho. Suddenly I start thinking. Something I hadn’t done prior to this point in the evening. I’m thinking things like; could they even see very well when the hooked the harness up? I mean it is ten o clock at night in a parking lot. And, how safe could jumping off a crane onto asphalt really be? And, holy CRAP! What am I thinking??!!!
And now Holly is heckling me! “Hurry up, you chicken!” Uhhhh. Ummm. Uhhhhh. I really don’t want to do this. I have no shame. “Can you jump with me,” I say to the guy. “I want to go down.” I mutter. “If you go down you lose your thirty bucks – just jump” He says. Aaaaah. Mmmm. (up to this point every single girl has jumped – no one backed out. Until me.) Finally the guy looks me right in the eyes, I can still see his bright blue eyes today, “Just *#*##blankin’ jump!” He yells as me.
That’s it! NO one talks to me like that!!!! (hurumph!!!) “Take me down, NOW!!” And down we went to a hysteric Holly you was laughing her pants off. And up she went and walked off the edge like she was jumping in a pool. Laughing and screaming the whole time.
Funny thing is - I’ve never regretted it. I like to think it was one of my wiser moments in my life. After weighing all the odds, I like to think a more intelligent person would have chosen what I did.
Okay. And a total chicken.
Picture from www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/3129
1 comment:
I don't think I would have done it either. I am also a big chicken. Really though, you could have saved your life in that moment by saying no!
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