Was the skydiving instructor sucky?

[HotelMinion]

Was this skydive guy sucky? :\

Well, I've never been skydiving before, but it's on my bucket list. But anyway, this is from my sister. She went and she was really nervous. Paid a pretty penny for it and everything. To make a long story short, the skydiving guy (the instructor) pushed her out! To make it worse, he told her to imagine her grandma, waiting for her. (Our grandma is dead.) And then pushed her out! So she was terrified of dying, you know, going to meet her. Luckily she was okay. But I just thought it was a pretty cruel thing to do.

I read up on skydiving a bit, and nowhere it says that you have to jump, or you can't change your mind, and the instructor PUSHES you. SHe said that he SHOVED her. I think it's really bad if you force someone to go when they're not ready to. But I can also understand that maybe he thought she was too afraid. It reminds me of when our parents used to make us rides all the rides in the theme parks when we were little, ages six and nine. I was six. I was scared and so was she, but our parents dragged us into the roller coasters. Once there, my dad (he was first class troll) would say stuff like, "Ooh we are SOOOO high," and "Open your eyes, look how high we are." Now I like roller coaster (except the wooden ones) and I've never seen any parents drag their kids like we were. But I digress. Do you think the skydive guy was cruel to push her? Or am I just over thinking things?:\

[Deserted]

My understanding is, on your first jump (or maybe first few jumps) you're supposed to be physically connected to the instructor, in that special 2-person harness they make for exactly this sort of thing.

Personally, if I was in that situation, depending on how pissed off I was... actually, never mind, my reactions ALL belong in fratching. At best. But yeah, that instructor was in the wrong.

[Chromatix]

My understanding is that it's not just sucky, it's actually unsafe. People sometimes do extremely strange and counterproductive things when in a panic.

[Teskeria]

If this was recently enough, and the instructor was part of a facility/school and not freelance, she needs to contact the organization and explain what happened. From what I was able to find on research, a first jump should be static line and it is normally for those interested in taking up skydiving as a sport. You should not be pushed.

As to the comment about your grandmother, did he know she had passed away? If he did, it was definitely not appropriate and she should bring that up also. If he didn't, it is possible his goal was to make her feel relaxed thinking of someone she loved on the ground watching her.

[Sunshine]

Fratch fratch fratch....ahem...yeah....* slinks off til she's calmer*