I wrote this short stoy as a response to an Olympic preview show I watched that talked about the emergence of all these adrenaline-type sports all over the world and how some of them have even made it into the Olympics (skateboarding, surfing, etc…) Rather appropriate for late summer.                                                                              Word Count: 4680

Multiple Shifts in

A Person’s Life Perspective

 

 

In theory, we can assume a person’s perception of life, and behavior is changed slightly when they’ve gone through a near-death experience, right? They’ve just been through a traumatic change in their life, both physically and emotionally, and it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that life is somewhat different for this person.

If it doesn’t change, then there’s definitely something wrong with the universe. Either that person is drastically opposed to any sort of change happening in their life in the first place (the result of the near-death experience being that change), or they’ve got some sort of masochistic Death-Wish and they’re disappointed they weren’t successful at accomplishing their objective the first time around.

Then how do you explain this dramatic shift in behavior of my best friend and the guy who’ll more than likely be placing flowers on my permanent dirt nap (if he doesn’t beat me to the funeral home first), one Pablo Kardashian? This guy’s gone so far off the deep end of the life changing experience pool that the day he’s set to meet his maker, I’m thoroughly convinced he’ll probably decide a radical shift in behavior on that very day is in order. Either that, or he’s been replaced by an alien clone and/or robot who looks exactly like him, but acts completely different in every respect.

Pablo and I have known each other since that first day in grade school when we traded our respective lunch options. Mine was a tuna sandwich, which my mom prepared despite my best efforts at telling her I was allergic to most types of fish, while his was a PB & J. The same thing he’d been eating for the past week due to his parents buying the economy sized jars of peanut butter and marmalade jam (some sort of lame argument Pablo said they kept telling him about cutting domestic costs). Both of us discussed the fact that our mutual parental units totally ignored their children when we said we needed extra cash to buy proper mid-day meals.

Ever since then, the two of us have been, “thicker than thieves” as the bad cliché goes. Pablo and I eat the same food (a strong inclination towards Mexican), we both have the same taste in music (rock-n-roll all the way), and have more or less the same laid-back outlook on life. A classic example of that last one; Neither one of us gets very upset when the other one trashed out the apartment after hosting, and heavily participating in an insane night of debauchery.

The one difference? Pablo took a more measured approach to his physical hobbies. He used to be careful to the point of hanging out at home. Meanwhile, yours truly gives new meaning to the term risk taker.

Case in point, while I’m jumping off nearby cliffs to fly down the mountain in a wing glider Squirrel-suit, Pablo is lounging on the couch at home, and binge-watching episodes of a popular espionage drama that he was too lazy to sit through when the series originally aired on TV. In the afternoon, while the guy is taking in a movie at the local multiplex, I’m doing a river trip with other outdoor fanatics. Were we slightly different when it came to the activities we engage in? Is a rainforest pygmy tribesman somewhat dissimilar when standing next to a 7’ foot Dutch wind-mill repairman?

Pablo had taken his aversion for doing extreme adrenalin-type action sports to another level. In the past, and before the car accident that brought him within an eyelash of meeting his maker, he would casually mention that he didn’t really have much of a desire to go skiing that weekend with me. Since the accident, it’s been a totally opposite situation. Now if I suggested we take in a weekend of schussing down the mountain, he’ll counter-suggest that we turn it into a semi-regular event, and through regular practice he wants to get good enough to ski off the steepest cliff he can find. Maybe even sans the landing parachute, as he says it depends upon how lucky he feels on that particular day.

How is something like this possible? We could spend the next two or three hours coming up with all sorts of theories to pinpoint why this situation has developed. Rather than do that, I actually tried to talk to my buddy in a somewhat valiant attempt to figure out the how’s and why’s of his sudden change in behavior. Was I successful? Not really when you get right down to the fact of the matter.

 

Lounging in the living room of our apartment:

In addition to our mutual admiration for Mexican food, both of us find it deeply soothing, and one of life’s great pleasures to consume large quantities of ice cream in a single sitting. This was no exception to that particular indulgence happening.

“Great choice,” said Pablo. “I don’t think we’ll have any problem eliminating this entire 1 gallon tub of Double Fudge-Brownie in the next hour or so.”

“Probably be gone in less time than that.” Hard to imagine any other scenario.

“So, you want to go with me tomorrow?”

“What you planning on doing?” Pablo has gotten really good at doing things on the spur of the moment. Particularly since he almost had his fateful rendezvous with the Grim Reaper.

“I’m signed up for this all-day diving expedition. There’s no doubt they’ll let me bring another buddy along.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t a person have to get their dive certification before they can go on one of these trips in the first place. You aren’t bonded.”

“Yes I am. I took some lessons and got my certification two weeks ago. Now I can go below the surface with the best of them.”

“Ok then. What’s this adventure you’re asking me to Join you in?” Should I be apprehensive? Never can tell in these types of situations, right.

“The trip I signed up for is the water right above this spot where a Spanish Galleon supposedly sank. Interested?”

“Sure, why not. What have I got to lose, other than a limb or two if a tiger shark gets a little too friendly.”

“If that happens, it’ll make things more exciting.”

“I suppose.” My friend has taken to talking about wanting to visit Australia one day, and I understand that the Land Down-Under has more poisonous snakes than anywhere else on earth. Does he have a Death-Wish? The Jury’s still out on that one.

 

The scuba diving adventure happened, and it was pretty good. The only problem being the fact that the boat we travelled out to the spot where we jumped in the water happened to do double duty as a fishing vessel. This meant it had a comparable smell to that of a dumpster out back of a daycare facility. A different type of aroma as long as we’re comparing olfactory scents.

_________________

Fortunately, (or unfortunately depending upon your perspective), we didn’t encounter any wayward critters. What we did end up doing was meet another adrenalin junkie participating in the dive named Tyler Mira. After the dive ended, Tyler casually mentioned that he was participating in another scuba expedition, and asked if we were interested in joining him on the adventure.

Pablo enthusiastically agreed of course, and this brings up another somewhat odd behavioral trait that’s become a part of his modus operandi since the crash. The guy keeps doing all this Action Sport stuff, and it’s almost as if it behooves him to turn it into some sort of full-time obsession. Immediately upon walking across the threshold of our apartment, another unusual example of that reared its peculiar head once again.

“So, our next diving adventure with Tyler Mira happens this coming weekend. Should be fun, we’re set to explore another shipwreck site, and this time I think we’ll find something truly amazing. That gives me five days to take in some other activities.”

“True, you got something in mind?”

“I’ve always wondered what it would be like to go sky diving. Since you’ve done the wing suit thing, any sort of sky diving adventure probably seems pretty mild, right? What do you think?”

“Well sort of. There are differences, but they’re subtle. Launching one’s self off a cliff or high-rise building while you’re wearing a wing suit can be quite a bit more demanding since you’re aiming your fall in particular directions. Sky Diving on the other hand, is just jumping out of a plane and falling straight down to terra firma. Sky Diving almost sounds fairly basic, doesn’t it?”

“Does indeed, but challenging nonetheless. I want to do it, you game for taking me on a sky diving adventure?”

Is this really happening? “I guess, what you got in mind?”

“Contact a regional airport so we can sign-up for a sky diving expedition. We got almost a week before the diving rendezvous with Tyler Mira happens, so why not between now and then? Life’s too short, so let’s go for it.”

“Uh, let me make a few calls and see what we can arrange.”

_________________

We were indeed able to sign up for a mid-week sky dive, and that even gave Pablo enough time to contemplate climbing to the summit of a nearby peak. Driving to the starting point of this hiking adventure would’ve taken at least three days just to get there, so that deterred him in his aspirations. Otherwise, he might’ve pursued the climbing option. Getting all the way to the summit required rock climbing gear too, so taking a few climbing lessons first was something Pablo might also needed to consider. My impression was that he’d consider this only be a minor inconvenience to take care of first.

Two days later as the Cessna taking us up into the clouds had just reached an altitude of 12,000’ in elevation:

“The Master Parachute Rigger is getting ready to open the plane door,” I tried not to sound too non-chalet as I said it. “Once that happens, it’ll be too noisy for me to say much to you. You ready for this to happen, Pablo?”

“Can’t wait. I’m really excited, aren’t you?”

“Oh yeah, should be fun. It’s not uncommon for people that have done this a number of times to perform all sorts of tricks after they’ve jumped out of the plane.”

“I think I can get to that level,” said Pablo as he smiled and rubbed his palms. “I don’t want to wait till that happens.”

“Ok then,” I tried not to dissuade Pablo. “Let’s go for it my friend.”

I expected that I might have a bit of trouble getting Pablo to exit the plane. Figuring he’d look outside, then hesitate big time, which might even result in me having to delicately persuade him to jump out. Instead, he exited the plane before I could even say or do anything. In fact, Pablo flew out the open side of the plane while I had my back turned to check and make sure my parachute was securely fastened. When I turned, he’d leaped out so fast I felt like a complete fool. It sure felt like I was the one holding us back during the course of our latest adrenalin stimulation exercise.

The jump was as usual an amazing experience, and soon after we landed back on solid ground, Pablo couldn’t stop raving about our latest adventure. Telling me in no uncertain terms that sky diving was definitely something he wanted to do on a regular basis. Further mentioning that we should look into getting a discount pass from the plane taking us up into the sky. Maybe this’ll happen, but for now we’ll just stick to the status quo.

????????????????

Right after we returned to the apartment, and while getting ready for bed I had a chance to think about the circumstances surrounding Pablo’s accident. How did it happen? Why did it happen? Does the accident happening mean a catastrophic end to western civilization? Probably not.

I’m not a Buddhist, but strongly believe in the concept of karma. Since that’s the case, we should probably investigate what crimes against humanity Pablo committed in his past to deserve something of this nature happening to him. Then again, his karma must’ve been pretty good since he survived the accident, right?

One of the problems you have with driving a car is that in the majority of situations, the vehicle you’re cruising down the highway in happens to be subject to the whims and pitfalls of your fellow motorists. In a nutshell, that’s kind of the situation Pablo fell into.

He’d reached the bottom of a hill and a 4-way intersection stop going the appropriate speed at the time for the conditions. A raging snow storm, with visibility barely 2 to 3 feet ahead of you if you’re lucky. Basically, a Lake-affect storm that had people living in the town that he was visiting on business at the time (Buffalo, N.Y.) wondering why the Hell they haven’t moved to the tropics already. The weather that day was just that pleasant if you happen to be an avid Alpine skier.

Right as Pablo was exiting the intersection with the delusional assumption that he’d made it through the stop unscathed, it happened. A supply truck (with its half-drunk driver) barreled into the crossroads going way too fast for the conditions, and rammed into his rear bumper. Not just brushing his car, but partially T-boning it, and forcing the vehicle into a spectacular set of barrel rolls that would impress even the most jaded Hollywood stunt car driver. Then after doing this series of multiple rotations, the vehicle slid down a nearby hill and came to a stop (upside down of course). Although he was wearing a seat belt (which probably saved his life-once again the good “karma” thing kicks in), quick thinking had bystanders pulling Pablo out of the car immediately before the vehicle exploded in a spectacular display of pseudo-Hollywood pyrotechnics.

The traumatic circumstances forced our boy into a coma that he didn’t come out of for almost three weeks. Amazingly, there didn’t appear to be any sort of physical damage other than one or two nasty bumps and bruises, and possible spinal damage that might become arthritic later in life.

Still, doctors were worried they might discover a bit of residual brain damage upon him waking up, and even after Pablo had regained consciousness, still treated him with a delicate set of kid gloves. Then after keeping him in the hospital for over a month after he came out of the coma, they safely assumed that there didn’t appear to be any sort of serious brain injuries as a result of the accident.

At first, it did seem like he was back to normal, but as we all know, “appearances can be deceiving.” Little by little, Pablo had turned into an adrenalin junkie who needs their fix on a regular basis in order to feel normal. Daily if possible, but at this point I’m assuming he’ll probably take whatever adventure he can get himself into at that time.

******************

The next week, Pablo latched onto another way of getting a certain endorphin hormone fix, and this one I concluded was a bit too extreme when he told me about it.

In certain ways, our relationship is sort of like a long-term marriage that’s gone into the respective parties’ comfortable phase. Both of us go to our mutually exclusive software development jobs in the morning, only to return to the apartment in the evening so we can compare notes about how our day went. Whether we want to talk about it or not.

The only difference between us and a good marriage, neither Pablo, nor I like to cook dinner, so we’ve both memorized an entire list of telephone numbers for various food delivery services in our area in order to carry out some easy ordering. Wait a second, some successful marriages also do that on a regular basis too. In certain cases, that’s precisely why the marriage has survived.

The Living room of our apartment:  

“I was wasting some time at work this afternoon watching YouTube videos,” said Pablo. “Came across this amazing video for these kids in London doing what they call, “Urban Gymnastics”.

     “Wait a second, is this what I think it is?”

“What you talking about?”

“Do these videos show people traveling through urban landscapes by doing flips, jumps, and twists off of buildings, stairways, and walls in their path? Climbing to the top of something and jumping between other standing structures?”

“That’s the one?”

Just what I suspected. This is sort of like if an Eskimo suspecting that jungle environments might have a few bugs in them. “The thing with all those videos is this. They’re real alright, but in every single one of them, you only see the triumphant leaps and jumps. The videos don’t show all the times when those exact same performers fall, or hurt themselves. All the successes, none of the failures.”

“Yeah, what about that?”

“Well, take that into consideration when you’re watching the action.”

“But the stuff they’re doing is amazing.”

“Of course it is, and I enjoy watching the videos as much as the next guy, but remember, it probably takes a lot of time practicing those maneuvers by the people who pull them off successfully on YouTube. Way before any of it was put to video. What you getting at anyway Pablo?”

“I think I can pull off some of those maneuvers.”

Now he’s getting a little delusional too. “Go to a gym first to see if you can actually do some of this stuff. Then after you’ve perfected a certain move, go out and try it in a public setting. For one, you do this and avoid embarrassing yourself if you try to pull off a trick in public and more than likely it fails miserably.”

“Ok, I make regular visits to the gym.”

“Also, by practicing the tricks first in a gym setting, the injury factor is substantially reduced.”

“You want to join me?

“Not really. Me and performing anything remotely close to actual gymnastics out in public is sort of like having a camel herder go ice skating with you. Then again, none of the YouTube videos I’ve watched make the moves look all that difficult, but additionally, looks can be deceiving as we all know.”

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Did Pablo go to a gym and practices the flips and body twisting moves first, before he displayed any of his skills out in public? Maybe, maybe not? As far as I know, he might’ve since it could lead to an enhanced physical aptitude. The guy is in decent shape, and is somewhat gifted when it comes to physical ability, so getting good at any of the moves probably wasn’t all that hard for him if he went to the gym. This despite the fact that he was a chronic couch potato prior to the accident.

On the other hand, he probably didn’t follow up on any of these intentions. This would’ve meant time away from all these other “Death-Cheating” practices he’s suddenly become addicted too. Also, the inside of a gymnasium isn’t exactly an extreme environment to perfect your skills. Depending upon what you’re trying to perfect of course.

 

Things got relatively sedate right after that. The scuba diving expedition the following weekend happened, and although we did discover a few interesting things-overall, the adventure was “nothing to write home about.” This was partially due to the fact that the area had been picked clean by various other diving expeditions over the years. I hate it when that happens, but then again, what’s an adrenalin junkie to do in instances such as this?

I actually took the time to look into any sort of psychiatric studies such as Pablo’s that might give me a feel for what had happened to him. Unfortunately, his case seemed to be a one of a kind thing, unless you count peripheral studies involving individuals that result in them turning into an artist on the level of Michelangelo, Archimedes type whiz-kid mathematicians, or singers with a voice like Aretha Franklin’s. The release of hidden talents that prior to the accident they had no inclination towards. A traumatic event leading to a total, and complete change in the person’s preference for their hobbies? Similar case studies don’t exist, and even if they do, there’s some sort of worldwide conspiracy scheme keeping me from discovering the details.

Finally, within a week of this latest search for clues, another incident happened that totally deterred me in my search for an answer. The result of this one took us on a 180 degree shift back in the opposite direction too. How is this possible? Don’t ask me. Most of the time I like to think I’m eventually able to figure out the answers, but in this latest situation I was totally stumped.

Once again it involved a car accident, and this leads me to the begrudging conclusion that the sooner we perfect the technology surrounding driverless carsand start integrating them into society on a large scale, the better.

Sure, all those car chase scenes that’ve become a standard of so many action movies Hollywood churns out at the rate of two or three/week look awfully exciting. I’ve actually thought it’d be pretty cool to be involved in one of them too. The car chase happens, there’s all sorts of massive damage to various structures and automobiles, but nobody gets hurt (at least no one that you can see). Sure, our hero comes away from the experience with only slightly damage to his (or her) physical and emotional well-being, but everyone walks away from the crash, and best of all you don’t see the insurance adjustors involvement in any of the aftermath.

Just like the earlier accident, this one involved the classic T-Bone collision scenario. A staple of so many car interactions in America (the world over for that matter).

The town of “Destiny” is a unique place. Situated in what’s often referred to by the media as “fly-over country”, Destiny is located just north of Chicago, Illinois and Pablo went there on a combination business trip/scouting expedition. The business trip; to investigate the possibility of establishing a factory for the software company he worked for, and the scouting sojourn; to check out possibilities for flying his para-glider off the nearby Lake Michigan sand dunes.

During the establishment of the Interstate Network of Highways in the 1950s, the powers-that-be discovered that in order to build an Interstate connection linking Milwaukee, Wisconsin with Chicago, they had to split the town of “Destiny” into two parts. This involved establishing the town of “North Destiny”, and its neighbor on the opposite side of the new interstate, “South Destiny”.

Pablo rented a car when he first flew into Chicago and the biggest problem at that point was the onboard GPS system of the rental having become partially defective. When he exited the Interstate, and arrived at what the GPS told him was “Destiny”, instead he came across a fork in the road that directed him in one of two directions; North-Destiny to the right, and South-Destiny to the left. A convenient sign right at the fork-in-the-road telling him, “Destiny Awaits.”

Pablo first turned to the left, then remembered an earlier telephone conversation he had with a Destiny Chamber of Commerce official where the guy told him the location for the new factory was hopefully going to be in the north part of town. Thinking drastically, he immediately hit the brakes and tried to make a U-turn with the rental vehicle. Sure enough, a transport truck traveling in the opposite direction T-boned into the passenger side of his vehicle. Needless to say, the resulting collision wasn’t all that pretty.

Unlike the earlier accident, Pablo wasn’t wearing a seat belt, but he did have his window rolled down. The result of this was him being thrown out of the vehicle and the landing result with Pablo lapsing into another coma. This go-round coma lasted for almost a month, and I’m convinced the use of a Driver-less Car probably wouldn’t have an incident such as this happening. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m also thinking the only problem cropping up with the use of a driver-less auto in this situation would be the vehicle not stopping when you need to take a bathroom break. The driver-less Truck wouldn’t be traveling 50 mph faster than the posted speed limit either.

When he woke up from his coma, our conversation led to me discovering a complete turn-around in Pablo’s behavior once again. Am I surprised at what took place? Slightly I guess.

“So how you feeling buddy?” Be interesting to see just how this much of an affect this latest car crash and coma has had on this burning desire of his to indulge in the adrenalin sports.

“Pretty good, how long was I out of commission?”

“Almost a month, so even though you’re back in the land of the living, you still need to take it slowly.”

“Things feel different. I can’t really recall everything that’s happened recently.”

“Do you remember the circumstances that led up to your car crash and coma?”

“Tell me again why I was going to this place north of Chicago? You called it “Destiny”?”

“Your reasons were two-fold actually, but to scout locations in both instances. 1. The possible location for a new software factory your company is thinking of setting up, and 2. A set of sand dunes right off the shores of Lake Michigan that you said you want to fly your para-glider off of.”
“You’re kidding,” said Pablo. “The day I go para-gliding is the same day as my trip to Africa so I can view lions up close and personal in their natural habitat.”

Uh oh, now we’re getting into the Twilight Zone realm. What’s going on? “I thought you might be bummed out when I mentioned that your paraglider pack was in the back seat and got partially demolished in the accident. Guess we don’t have to worry about your reaction concerning that one.”

“If it wasn’t destroyed, then maybe I could’ve sold it.”

“Why would you want to do that?” This is really getting beyond weird.

“To make some money to buy additional snack food.”

“Then you might as well sell the kayak, sell all three of your bicycles, sell the multiple skateboards, sell all that action sport paraphernalia you’ve accumulated.”

“I own all those things? Why would I have done that in the first place?”

“After the initial accident you told me yourself, and I quote; “Falling down is an accident, staying down is a choice.” Then you said you’re getting up, and started participating in all these extreme sports I like to do.”

“You’re making this stuff up.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Really? You’re crazy if you think I’ll ever do any of those crazy hobbies of yours. You fall off a refrigerator and land on your head when you were a kid?”

“Not that I know of. As a matter of fact, my parents say they experienced a rather sedate period while raising me.”

“Whatever. Here’s the thing, I’ll never do a lot of your crazy hobbies. What makes you think I ever will.”
“Ok then.” Don’t ask me why this is happening.

 

A month later, things went back to the way they were before the first accident. Pablo took up semi-regular residence on the apartment couch, while I kept indulging in all those extreme sports of mine. Did any of this really happen? Some people might be tempted to think it didn’t, but since I lived through it I know it did. For a brief period, my buddy was even more extreme than yours truly. Therefore, we can conclude stranger things can and do occur.