Posted by MHK on June 25, 2001 at 15:30:48:
In Reply to: Whats up with . . . posted by Kevin on June 25, 2001 at 12:39:59:
Kevin,
I used to go on open boats all the time, just about every weekend, and then Tim sold out ;-), and he has Sport Chalet and Reef Seekers just about every weekend and since I won't dive with either shop I lost my freeloading ability ;-)
But seriously, there are several problems and they aren't being addressed but rather are being enabled.. The dive industry is a very symbiotic, self-policing business and few in the business are willing to bite the hand that feeds them..
Take for example the dive rags.. Rodales, Skin Diver, you name it, they feed off the advertising dollars spent by PADI, NAUI etc. etc.. Do you really expect to see an article in the magazine about the reduced levels of training??? Certain gear is just a waste of money and basically a worthless gadget, but if ScubaPro spends X dollars of ad revenue, do you think you'll see an article ridiculing their products???? And on and on...
The fact of the matter is that society is all about asigning blame to someone else.. Someone else in this thread is trying to blame you for not discussing with the CF's and then goes on to talk about the responsibility of the more experienced to critic newbies.. To me that is a very slippery slope and I'd just as soon see someone take responsibility for him/herself.. If you have poor skills it's easy to work hard to improve them, it just takes effort and a commitment.. But pointing fingers at someone else isn't the answer.. It starts with quality education, if it starts with teh notion of instant gratification, patches, watered down training, cd-roms and the willingness to accept mediocrity...
If the agencies continue this path of least resistance you'll continue to certify for life divers that are clueless and don't know any better...
Later