Posted by Reefraider on November 19, 2000 at 08:20:36:
This was posted by someone using the name ANYDIVER on another scuba board. It was in response to the gleeful posting of yet another fatality. I thought it was a very good answer.
"Yes the news called her inexperienced and that was probably an overstatement, but this board has some of the most arrogant
people/divers....
She was doing a recreational dive, well under the depth limit, no decompressions stops, no wreck penetration, etc. Now all of a
sudden she died because she is an inexpereinced newbie? I don't think so. Diving skill has a lot more to it than the number of
dives in your log book.
Who is the "better" diver? The person with 50 total dives all in the last year, or the one with 200 over 10 years. I would say that
you can't tell. Who is the better athlete, the most level headed, the most intelligent, and a million other factors that make up a
diver and an individual. Until they start keeping score, the "better" diver is a pretty vague description.
There is such an attempt by some members of this board to make scuba diving into this elite club that only "they" are qualified
to be members of.
Mourn the loss of life, don't use it as an excuse to prop up your own ego.
Enough said."