Pat Deming

Laughing his head off at 10,000 feet

Pat Deming’s friends know he’s up for just about anything. So it’s no surprise that a variety of things make him laugh.

Seven or eight years ago he went skydiving for the first time with a group from work. The jump was from 10,000 feet — or nearly two miles above ground.

“It was awesome,” Deming said. “The only really scary part is there’s a little step on the outside of the plane so you’re standing on that step holding on to the edge of the plane and you’re like, ‘Now why am I doing this?’”

He did a tandem jump with the instructor.

“So the guy hits your hand to let go of the plane and then you fall forward,” Deming said. “It was just amazing. I was just laughing my head off it was so much fun. And then when the parachute actually came out you’re like, ‘Oh my God I’m actually going to live.’”

When he’s on solid ground his laughs come from juxtapositions. He loves it when the bad guys get their just desserts or when the high and mighty with their sense of entitlement are disappointed.

“Like in a movie, I love it when the bad guys end up in a grisly demise,” he said. “Their head gets chopped off, justice is served and I laugh and just think it’s wonderful.”

— Susan Harman

Iowa City Press-Citizen -- March 12, 2009