RedDwarfRedDwarf: Do a *flip while nobody's looking.



The Unofficial Galactic Company Protocol Guide has this to say on the topic of calisthenics in orbital and deep space contexts.

When visiting a space station, space craft, or similar void construct, most people who have spent their entire lives on a planet's surface will immediately remark upon the socially common act of flipping. This is, of course, distinct from planetbound flipping in its social meaning. When you hear someone say, "Hey, want to see me do a backflip?" This generally means you should get out your PDA -- both to record the ensuing disaster, and to call for medical attention immediately after. This is not the case for spacers.

For the average spacer, performing a flip has a culturally complex history and meaning. Due to the difficulties of life in low, null, or artificial gravity, fitness becomes paramount to prevent muscular atrophy. In this modern era, performing a flip is the most common gesture of fitness assurance. It demonstrates the inner ear's adjustment to the geometric and gravometric complexities of orbit, it indicates your fitness in the core and the legs, and it acts as a kind of gesture of assurance: "If everything is annihilated in some immediate disaster, I know how to navigate upside down. Trust me."

Performing a flip is sometimes incorporated into casual conversation by spacers. For the surface-bound, an approximate cultural translation is provided:

"Hella."


You beef it. Fuck!



Oh, god dammit!! You forgot AIAI!!


RedDwarfRedDwarf: Well, that settles it. We gotta kill the AIAI now.