Kevin gets cold feet

Kevin gets cold feet

Today, we meet the expression“ to have cold feet” about something. It means… well, I will tell you a story, and you will see what it means.

About3 months ago, Kevin went to the pub with his friend George. At the pub they met some friends who were talking about parachute jumping( or“ skydiving”). They were planning to go on a course to learn how to jump out of an aeroplane with a parachute. They thought it would be a really interesting thing to do. Maybe people would agree to sponsor their first jump so that they could raise money for a charity. By the end of the evening, Kevin and George had agreed that they too would go on the parachute jumping course. It sounded good fun. And Kevin would be able to tell everyone at work about his parachute jump, and they would be impressed.

Today is the last day of the parachute jumping course. For the first few days, Kevin, George and the other course participants learned how parachutes work, and how to open the parachute in the air, and how to land on the ground safely. But today, the instructors will take them up in a small aeroplane, and they will make their first real parachute jump.

Kevin feels ill. Three months ago, in the pub, jumping out of an aeroplane with a parachute was a great idea. Now Kevin thinks, “ Why did I say that I would do this?” Jumping out of an aeroplane is a crazy thing to do. Suppose he cannot make the parachute work. He would fall hundreds of meters and be killed. Or maybe his parachute will work, but he will land in a river, or in a tree, or on the roof of a house, or in a field with a mad bull. He imagines himself, lying on the ground with a broken ankle, with the mad bull snorting angrily at him.

In other words, Kevin has cold feet. Three months ago, he was enthusiastic about the parachute jump. Now he thinks it is a stupid idea. Perhaps he could pretend to be ill, or that his aunt has just died and he needs to go to her funeral. Yes– Kevin has cold feet.

Kevin arrives at the little airfield where the course is taking place The other course participants all seem a little quiet this morning. Perhaps they have cold feet too.

Then the instructor comes out of his office. “ Bad news, I am afraid,” he says. “ There is a mechanical problem with the aircraft, and it will take two or three days to fix it. So– I’m sorry– but we won’t be able to do the parachute jump today.” And everyone on the course says how disappointed they are, and how they had really been looking forward to the parachute jump, and what bad luck it is that the aeroplane cannot fly. And Kevin says all these things too. But secretly, inside, he is relieved. And he thinks that some of the other people on the course look relieved too.