Bitterness of Scuba Instructors

[E-diver]

There are those on ScubaBoard who chronically use attacktics to make their point (there's that punishment again) ... and my personal feeling is that those people tend to drive some folks off the board ... often resulting in us losing valuable contributors while the people we should be losing are allowed to continue posting in a way that puts others off. That's the issue I tried bringing up in our correspondence ... that the attacktics people needed to be put on a shorter leash because they're driving real contributors out of the house.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Couldn't agree with this more Bob, as a new member I can relate to your comment about the attacks driving folks away. For me I kept running across SB threads in Google search results, so I started to lurk a bit and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of truly excellent content available. So I became a more active lurker and eventually to participate in a thread here and there. A very FEW responses in some of the first threads I participated in almost made me blow off SB completely. But then I just decided that I'd ignore the folks that are just here to pontificate by pulling things out of context to help drive their agenda, and focus purely on the information I find valuable and entertaining.

As a part-time instructor, I find I that I continue to learn as much from SB as I do from my offline prep for various classes. So I agree with the call for action to help drive a positive vibe and will do my part to help with that. I'm also very thankful to NetDoc and the mods/advisers for keeping this thing running.

A big fan,
-Erin

 

[Doppler]

Matt,
It's the Internet. Stop taking it personally or seriously. There are loads of really experienced people here, sharing their knowledge because they enjoy helping others. Take what you need, ignore what you don't like.

Sounds like a Tshirt waiting to happen!

Get's my vote anyway.

 

[k ellis]

You know I should have wrote this earlier but Ill add an observation about my job that seems to fit the mold here. People always look at Law Enforcement officers as being egotistical. They see us as the destroyers of life because tickets cost so much and families get stained when loved ones are arrested. They look at our way of life and say we think we own the world because we are in a position of authority. Ive even heard the old comical joke about cops were bullied in school so they took up this career to feel powerful.

Truth is we only see most police officers for a brief moment in time. Many people still see officers as the news reports that still surface from the 60s and being very racial. Many see us as the state trooper who pulled over an ambulance (Note the link is to a video that may be graphic) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4G37Ouy16. Or in the infamous Rodney king incident.

People see us in a window of minutes and sum us up as everyone in a uniform is all alike and are heartless. But the truth is simple. There are those who even fellow officers will tell you do not deserve to be officers. But we are powerless to stop it except report it to our superiors who often dont care. It does not mean we do not though.

Police officers endure a whole lot and see a whole lot that most of us can never imagine and pray we never see or come across. We make decisions dailey that if viewed wrong can cost prison time for civil rights violations. Yet most of us do happily and do so without question. Long hours of work for little return (Like instructors) has actually destroyed thousands of families over the years too yet they keep moving forward with their passion.

So the point I am trying to make is we view instructors and divemasters based upon what took anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute to write and sum them up for their entire life (However old they are) and assume they are butt heads. You have to understand their are not anger issues always associated with diving. There are under lying issues they may be dealing with that at that brief moment in time have placed them in a less then desirable mood.

Like a police officer. If you meet them out of uniform and at the local bar many times (And I admit not all because we do have some high ego officers) you would never know they were a police officer. They come in they sit down and are very polite because they dont want drama. They want to sit and relax. Often people comment they cant imagine them being an LEO.

Give the same consideration to instructors. When you talk scuba and they live for it then yes you may come across one whos a little upset with the days events or how someone bashed his teaching ability. Someone said he was a pee poor instructor or even went around bad mouthing his living. Its going to set the stage for someone to seem bitter. Chances are though if you just dont bring up scuba to them they may actually be one of the nicest people you ever met.

 

[FPDocMatt]

People always look at Law Enforcement officers as being egotistical. They see us as the destroyers of life because tickets cost so much and families get stained when loved ones are arrested.

I see LEO's as the people who stand between those of us who are law-abiding citizens and the criminals who want to steal from us or harm us or both.

Many people still see officers as the news reports that still surface from the 60s and being very racial. Many see us as the state trooper who pulled over an ambulance. Or in the infamous Rodney king incident.

I think people who see LEO's in a negative light are probably criminals.

 

[theduckguru]

New divers are not incompetent, they have the training and the certification, they are inexperianced. There is a difference. After a reasonable amount of experiaced is gained, they still can't perform. Then they might be incompetent.

I am no instructor and wanted to stay out of this one, however I think it's a perspective thing and a bit unfare blanket statement. Can you maybe give a couple of examples?

New divers in general is very incompetent due to lack of experience. More seasoned diver are just as incompetent, but this have more to do with instructors that don't care, except for the cash (not a lot mind you). It does not matter how crap or dangerous the diver is to himself in the water, they take the cash and give a card ("outcome based education" IMO) Agencies also play a role as they demand the absolute bare minimun for recreational diving qualifications. This circle reflects bad on all instructors, I would also have bitterness because your profesion is judged based on the bad apples.

I think this have more to do about the bitterness toward incompetent divers by the really good, talented and passionate instructors.

 

[kimbalabala]

People always look at Law Enforcement officers as being egotistical. They see us as the destroyers of life because tickets cost so much and families get stained when loved ones are arrested. They look at our way of life and say we think we own the world because we are in a position of authority. Ive even heard the old comical joke about cops were bullied in school so they took up this career to feel powerful.

I think that SOME of us (as I look into the mirror) might be a little fearful ore resentful of police officers because we have a guilty conscience (left over from high school and college days)! I'm a serious rule-follower now that I'm older, but when I see the po-po I still get that knot in my stomach and hit the skids (even if I'm doing the speed limit already!).

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I think people who see LEO's in a negative light are probably criminals.

... or the victim of one of the bad ones who subsequently got protected by his chief or union. Not all LEOs are good guys ... but they all have the power to absolutely ruin your life. And all too often they can do so without having to take responsibility for the consequencs of their actions.

But that is a topic better discussed in The Pub ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[The Chairman]

Good post, Pete ... but I'm gonna take exception to this comment ...

You didn't take exception as much as you amplified my point, Bob. But then small variances some time seem REALLY REALLY BIG when they are not.

Actually, I don't see this as your problem ... it's every member's problem ... if, in fact, you want to consider it a problem at all.

That was my point Bob, and as usual, you are more direct in your approach. I really respect that in you and I try to return the favor by being as open and honest as I can be. Bob knows that I am the Board's safety valve. I don't moderate a lot, in fact I try to avoid it unless it's a spammer. Who can resist canning spam? When Bob gets frustrated, he PMs me. I hope that I am not sharing TOO much here, but even then, Bob knows that I am very discrete with what he tells me as well as in what I do to/tell the other person. Privacy is incredibly important here and that's one reason why people get a little frustrated: they sometimes think we don't are aren't acting. When a problem is raised by the "REPORT" button it creates a thread in our "Unclaimed" Issues forum for the mods to read. The mods will then read it and ONE will take it on as a project. It goes from there to the "In Process" forum where the mod tells us what they did or poses a question or series of questions so we can deal with the report fairly. It's a committee method and what's obvious to one, may not be so obvious to others.

 

[FPDocMatt]

... or the victim of one of the bad ones who subsequently got protected by his chief or union. Not all LEOs are good guys ... but they all have the power to absolutely ruin your life. And all too often they can do so without having to take responsibility for the consequencs of their actions.

Oh yeah, that's a good point. And then there are the assistant district attorneys who don't care if you're guilty, just want a conviction.

 

[boulderjohn]

Oh yeah, that's a good point. And then there are the assistant district attorneys who don't care if you're guilty, just want a conviction.

There are such egregious examples of both that they harm the public opinion toward the majority of fine and dedicated members of those professions. It is that way in many other employment areas as well. I am a career educator, and I am painfully aware of how really bad teachers and administrators make the public hate the many hard working and dedicated education professionals.