Posted by CalAbDiver on July 30, 2001 at 09:53:16:
In Reply to: Re: "motionless on the bottom" posted by Eric Sedletzky on July 28, 2001 at 21:24:32:
if you are not prepared to trade your life to make sure your buddy makes it back alive from the dive, then you arent a very good buddy, in my opinion. this is my general pet peeve about civilian divers overall. for me it raises the issue of whether civilian divers are qualified at all to scuba dive or freedive safely [and you thought the DIR gang and the cave divers were hard on the diving public!]
its not that i want to ban all scuba and free diving by everybody so that i have the whole ocean to myself and my "vet" buddies [we dont wear crew cuts btw], as i have been accused. its just that time and time again you read about or hear about somebody turning chicken when their dive buddy actually needed them.
so here is my list of 5 reasons why it is better to die with your buddy than leave your buddy dead in the ocean alone:
1. it is better to die with your buddy than to come back without him/her because then you wont have to face yourself in the mirror for the rest of your life.
2. ... because then you wont have to face your buddy's family members and friends.
3. ... because then you wont get sued by your buddy's relatives.
4. ... because then your buddy wont have died alone.
5. ... because having resolved that you are not coming back without your buddy, no matter what, even if you have to pay the ultimate price, your head will be clearer and you will be more likely to solve the problem and effect the successful rescue.
i know this sounds harsh for all the little pony tailed divers like Kelphead as well as the childish geeks like JRM her friend.
On the other hand, it sounds to me like MsBlucow is starting to come around to the reality of the dangers of The Ocean and is becoming born again hard. Blucow is in for a shock when she discovers that DIR and GUE and cave diving is not going to matter squat when the poopoo really hits the fan underwater, where everything will just depend on courage and skill.