Posted by Wayne on July 25, 2001 at 15:33:30:
In Reply to: You guys also left out the value of work done by DM's posted by brianc on July 25, 2001 at 12:40:00:
Last weekend I played DM for a class. As is normal, I received no compensation. I drove 150 miles round trip, slept for free on the boat, bought 12 bucks in food, added a measly $10 to the "tip hat" for the crew, found out that there were enough students that I did not have to pay for my air on the boat, worked for free in a shop for an hour before the dives and and other hour after the dive helping to check in rental gear.
And you got a tip once? Wow! I am not sure what I would do if I was handed one.
If I add my insurance premiums and membership fees (overhead), you can see that the only way to cutthe losses is to do it a lot so the loss per class is driven down!
But it is a terrific way to spend a day! I love to see students mastering a complex hobby that they can enjoy for many years. So I pay for the priviledge of helping others, and I am not complaining. If I did not think t was worth it, I coudl always stay home.
Some DMs do it because they are on the path to being an instructor and they think there is money to be made there. Others do it because they love it and have no further aspirations (I fit this category). I think t is really up to the DMs of the world to yank diving back to reality. What can a certifying agency to to me? Nothing really. I think it s up to the DMs to clean it up for everybody.
MHK has started me thinking abou this. Then Jim Hoffman's post made me more upset. I think it is time to have all experienced divers work together to make the sport better. There will always be problem will be in the areas of DIR versus non-DIR, but we are really talking about higher stuff at that point. We need to make sure that the basics are covered correctly. Then we can go after the higher levels of performance.
Wayne