The Missionary Position

Normally missionaries annoy me. I'm a live and let live kind of a guy. So I certainly didn't mean to actively recruit one of my coworkers into diving classes...

Nonetheless, today he signed up for an open water class next month and is already bursting with enthusiasm about the whole thing.

I'm trully excited to have someone I actually know and trust (not that I haven't trusted my buddies, but I'm usually just teamed up with some dude I meet 15 minutes before the dive by a person from the shop) to dive with in the near future. Ah, a real live dive buddy of my very, very own.

So, the question is, how many of ya'll have acted as a missionary for the sport or who has been recruited by a missionary.

.. the missionary position to get my wife to go down...under the surface that is.. and now she loves it, although not as much as me. :tease:

Hey Pervs!...I'm talking about scuba!

My usual budy is an instructor and, prety much, if you are a friend of his, you WILL be certified...

I watched him work with one person for almost two years of pool sessions because they really wanted to dive but had major issues with taking the mask off underwater.

So far, I think he's only failed one studant and that was because they refused to work on skills and get good enough that he was comfortable passing them.

After I met him at work about 6-7 years ago (previous job) and got to know him over a few weeks, the conversation went something like this:

-----
Him: By the way, I'm a SCUBA instructor. Would you like to get certified?

Me: Yes!

Him: Oh, come on, you'll LOVE it!.... Oh, wait... You said yes?
-----
He was all set to go into the sales pitch...

The best part is, since we became very good friends, he only chaged me for the books & PADI card fees for the certs I got from him.
Now I divemaster for him... Paybacks are a b****... :wacko:

many parents be upset with me cause my kids dive and their kids don't.

Especially when my daughter can tell the class all about what civil war ship wrecks look like, etc. and their cargos and routs because she has dove on them, or how fish school around reefs or octopus den because she has been there.


I can count 9 people that have taken the "introductory class" because of this. That's all I suggest they do. Then they can make a more informed decision.

I was on the other end of a "scuba missionary position"...

One of my best buddies from work is a DM and he was bugging me for over a year to get certified. I wanted to do it, but could never "fit it in my schedule". Finally, he set up a personal class for me and my gf with one of his instructor buddies and we got certified last year. Then I commenced to kick myself for not getting certified sooner...