# Was I ballsy or just stupid for doing this--dive off a high bridge? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 22, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312 "2014-03-22T20:40:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/21 "2014-03-23T04:31:59Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Can’t help you with amorous moose…back away slowly, is all I can come up with… Sometimes it’s not about the hunting… I didn’t know better, but got a lecture from a ranger about 30 minutes later. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/22 "2014-03-23T07:45:04Z")
When I was depressed, I saw a couple of guys jump off the top of an old bridge. (Except for one guy who didn’t jump). It was the happiest moment I had for a long time before and after. I didn’t actually see the jump. Just a bunch of guys on top of the structure, then a moment later only one guy chearing and yelling and waving. And at that moment I was like – YES, THEY DID IT. THEY MADE A DECISION AND FOLLOWED THROUGH AND DID IT – THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO DO THAT, IT WAS A CHOICE THEY MADE, IT DIDN"T HAVE ANY BENEFIT THEY JUST DID IT FOR FUN – So. Ballsy or stupid, the world is a better place because young men jump off bridges. _It provides an inspirational example to some of the rest of us, who are too petrified with fear to get out of the middle of the road, or to sail back to shore._ ---
**Author:** ![wheresmymind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@wheresmymind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheresmymind)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/23 "2014-03-23T08:03:05Z")
How exactly did you get to the spot you dove from? That bridge doesn’t have much of a shoulder, and traffic is generally heavy. I’d say just walking across the bridge would be foolhardy! ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/24 "2014-03-23T08:12:53Z")
Did you first check to see if the depth of the water was safe for you to dive from that height? If so, I would call it ballsy. If not, I would call it unnecessarily reckless and maybe even foolish. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/25 "2014-03-23T08:15:00Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > When I was depressed, I saw a couple of guys jump off the top of an old bridge. (Except for one guy who didn’t jump). It was the happiest moment I had for a long time before and after. > > I didn’t actually see the jump. Just a bunch of guys on top of the structure, then a moment later only one guy chearing and yelling and waving. And at that moment I was like – YES, THEY DID IT. THEY MADE A DECISION AND FOLLOWED THROUGH AND DID IT – THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO DO THAT, IT WAS A CHOICE THEY MADE, IT DIDN"T HAVE ANY BENEFIT THEY JUST DID IT FOR FUN – > > So. Ballsy or stupid, the world is a better place because young men jump off bridges. > > _It provides an inspirational example to some of the rest of us, who are too petrified with fear to get out of the middle of the road, or to sail back to shore._ IMO, the only way in which the world becomes a better place is if the man does not check that the depth of the water is safe for him to dive while at the same time, he is a member of some racist org or other kind of hate group. In that way if he kills himself or does some terrible terminal damage to himself, the world will not miss him very much. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/26 "2014-03-23T09:16:52Z")
> [@wheresmymind](#): > > How exactly did you get to the spot you dove from? That bridge doesn’t have much of a shoulder, and traffic is generally heavy. I’d say just walking across the bridge would be foolhardy! From the west side, the bridge takes off from property owned by St Mary’s church, IIRC. You can climb up to a catwalk underneath the bridge by walking along a drainage pipe. From the catwalk, you can get to the huge I-beams that make up the spans, I dove from standing on one of these and that’s why I mentioned clearance from the river. I didn’t dive from the deck, which may have been 10’ higher. I didn’t know the exact depth but I had been boating and swimming the river my whole life and knew that large sailboats had passed through that point. Still, not knowing the exact depth was foolhardy and that flashed through my mind as my reflection in the water met me. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/27 "2014-03-23T09:31:54Z")
[Here’s a picture of the bridge](http://www.wtop.com/25/726458/Coast-Guard-Launches-Investigation-Into-Runaway-Barge), although I wasn’t probably that far out into the spans as this. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/28 "2014-03-23T09:53:09Z")
I’m not that dumb, and I’ve done some very dumb things in my time. Be thankful you’re still alive, and tell this story to people who aren’t your children as a sort of “I am a ballsy mofo” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/29 "2014-03-23T14:40:32Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > True. I think I barely just missed qualifying for a Darwin Award. And I do, in a perverse way, enjoy reading them. > > But the question about is it a test of courage/ballsyness still stands. > > If you successfully complete the stunt, is it ballsy or stupid? > > It gave me a brief modicum of local fame as I can remember being at a Navy football game where some graduates gave me looks of disbelief until multiple people testified they had seen the dive > > Is Laird Hamilton stupid for surfing 80’ waves? > > I’m obviously not in his category of doing unbelievable shit, but where is the line drawn between stupid and “that’s a guy pushing the envelope”? How about this: Is there a good reason for jumping off a 60’ bridge? Is there a good reason for surfing an 80’ wave? Is there ever a good reason for deliberately putting oneself into danger just for the thrill of putting oneself into danger and surviving? Not to mention inconveniencing other people who have to clean up the mess you’ll make if you fail at your stunt? Sounds to me as if you’re implying the ballsy or stupid determination is dependent upon the outcome. I don’t buy that reasoning. I think ballsy/stupid is dependent on the reasoning and decision to make the jump and has nothing to do whether you walk away afterwards merely very damp or are carried away in a body bag. Is it still a ballsy stunt when you end up as a quadriplegic? Will the medical staff changing your soiled bed sheets, inserting a foley catheter, servicing your nasogastric feeding tube, and caring for you in other ways, be more likely to praise your ballsiness for jumping off a bridge or think how stupid you were to attempt such a dumb stunt? ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/30 "2014-03-23T19:30:30Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > How about this: Is there a good reason for jumping off a 60’ bridge? Is there a good reason for surfing an 80’ wave? Is there ever a good reason for deliberately putting oneself into danger just for the thrill of putting oneself into danger and surviving? Not to mention inconveniencing other people who have to clean up the mess you’ll make if you fail at your stunt? > > Sounds to me as if you’re implying the ballsy or stupid determination is dependent upon the outcome. I don’t buy that reasoning. I think ballsy/stupid is dependent on the reasoning and decision to make the jump and has nothing to do whether you walk away afterwards merely very damp or are carried away in a body bag. Is it still a ballsy stunt when you end up as a quadriplegic? Will the medical staff changing your soiled bed sheets, inserting a foley catheter, servicing your nasogastric feeding tube, and caring for you in other ways, be more likely to praise your ballsiness for jumping off a bridge or think how stupid you were to attempt such a dumb stunt? Thanks, **Ranger Jeff** …that’s a difference of opinion I can think about and respect. But, I’d also ask you to consider the good reasons for crossing an ocean for the first time or going to the moon. My little stunt doesn’t rank very high on the scale of human endeavor, but–IMHO and maybe I’m wrong–without some balls as a species we could/would still be eating bugs around a cold not-campfire in a cave. Do we not try uncertain things because we don’t know the outcome? The consensus seems to be falling (hah!) on the stupid side, and I can appreciate that, although I don’t feel that I was as much of a totally inexperienced diver or not familiar at all with the river as my OP may have caused some to believe. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/31 "2014-03-23T22:18:12Z")
Well it’s a good thing you didn’t say “Hey y’all, watch this” right before your “ballsy” endeavor. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/32 "2014-03-23T23:39:06Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Well it’s a good thing you didn’t say “Hey y’all, watch this” right before your “ballsy” endeavor. Or “Hey, hold my beer, willya?” ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/33 "2014-03-25T05:19:25Z")
I can only think of the term “Spinal cord injury.” ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/34 "2014-03-25T12:29:42Z")
Ballsy or stupid ? I’m voting just stupid. You put your life/future health at risk to prove you weren’t a wimp? I was much more struck with how sad it is, that all these years later, you feel the need to point out that they all just jumped in, while you were the only one to dive in! That’s hilarious! It was a hair splitting difference then. All these years later, it’s just so needy somehow. (I could be wrong, of course, but it smells like sneak bragging, not actual interest in how we view some ancient foolhardy behaviour.) ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/35 "2014-03-29T01:55:39Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Or “Hey, hold my beer, willya?” You have to finish your beer, first. You don’t want to go back up to get it afterwards. :smack: OK, it seems the consensus is that it was stupid and I can respect that. However, check out [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8HfBUTG7Fhw#t=177) to see what I would consider a “ballsy high dive”: It is from 172 feet–that close to Golden Gate Bridge height (200 ft clearance). Makes my 60 ft swan dive seem tame. _That_ takes balls. **elbows** , sure, there was an “impress your friends” component to it, but I think there’s also a “testing/challenging yourself” component to it–YMMV–and other’s. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/36 "2014-03-29T04:05:59Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > OK, it seems the consensus is that it was stupid and I can respect that. > > However, check out [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8HfBUTG7Fhw#t=177) to see what I would consider a “ballsy high dive”: > > It is from 172 feet–that close to Golden Gate Bridge height (200 ft clearance). Makes my 60 ft swan dive seem tame. > > _That_ takes balls. dasmoocher, you just don’t get it, do you? :smack: nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312/37 "2014-03-29T04:48:02Z")
Guess not… Maybe you get don’t get it either… I’m confused about why you have such a problem with a guy testing himself… Do you have an issue with the YouTube example and/or me? Seriously, and maybe I’m misinterpreting your position,but what is the issue with guys pushing their limits? I think we’re having a disconnect here. I respect your opinion, but my shit was tame… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-i-ballsy-or-just-stupid-for-doing-this-dive-off-a-high-bridge/684312.md?page=1)