Posted by Kendall Raine on August 08, 2001 at 08:51:11:
In Reply to: Thank you Eric and John Jo posted by Cygal on August 07, 2001 at 17:06:33:
"To the rest of the bitter ensemble of characters..."
"Good luck, you people are a trip!"
I'm sorry you feel that way. Sounds like you've got enough bitterness to go around. I can completely understand your being upset by the fact that you got hurt and scared on what sounds like a cattle dive with a DM who, it appears from your account, just didn't care. You paid good money and look what you got. Sounds like the DM was burned out and looked on his job as just that, a task to be gotten through with as little disruption to himself as possible.
My suggestions are:
1) Write a letter to PADI in as much detail and in as dispassionate and factual a way as possible. Name names. Copy the dive center. It may have no impact on the shop or the DM, but it'll help you vent.
2) After you've recounted the facts, take a hard look at them and ask yourself what you could have done differently. Many of the posts you received discuss these. You may not like the unsympathetic tone of some of them, but try to look past that. The common thread is personal accountability. Diving is an unnatural act. It has certain hazards. While there is no excuse for a DM with a sloppy attitude, as you continue to dive you'll find them everywhere. Risk assessment begins and ends with the diver. If you want to stay in the sport, practicing this skill will help prevent this kind of thing from happening again. You're going on and into the ocean when you dive and the ocean just doesn't care.
3) Forget the lawsuit. It's a dead end. You'll spend time, money and energy for nothing. Invest those things in yourself instead by diving more and getting additional training.
Good luck.