I wherent really aware of a thing called the RSTC so I have a silly question..
Does all the RSTC members acknowledge eachothers certificates? I would ASSUME the answer is yes, meaning that if Im certified with a RSTC agency and go diving with an op from a different RSTC agency they should know what the heck my cert is?
I was certified with PDIC when I was 15 years old (41 now). Only one time did I ever have a problem with the PDIC certification in 1990 and it lasted for all of 5 seconds at Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn Bonaire. An instructor working for them from Canada looked at my card and remarked, "PDIC? Is this a real agency?" Then, Bruce Bowker's voice was heard from the back room saying, "Yes, they are." Problem solved. Thanks, Bruce.
My favorite use of the word "recognized" is the implied threat that a card won't be accepted. McDonald's is the most recognized restaurant in the world, but how acceptable are the standards of their cuisine?
Back in the 1970's and 1980's as PADI was making their rise over NAUI and YMCA through marketing supremacy, there were some "issues" with C-cards of other agencies. Some of this was intentional to get divers to take training at various resorts and some was unintentional. I actually met a scuba instructor on a flight between Newark and Boston who was an instructor on Bonaire and never knew there was another training agency other than PADI. He must have just completed an IDC and never looked at a dive magazine. The other one was a mate on a dive boat in New Jersey. I don't think he ever cared about certifications after getting his own, but knew the wrecks very well. In the recreational community, the problem is nearly non-existant now and the RSTC and WRSTC have a lot to do with this. I saw some of this C-card nonsense about 10 years ago with GUE having problems with some northeast shops and wrecks, but that was all mean-spirited political BS. It certainly wasn't due to ignorance of GUE standards and quality. C-card acceptance is more of a minor issue in the technical community right now. Egos, politics ... the usual.
The tone of the agencies involved with the RSTC is one of cooperation. Even agencies outside the RSTC such as NAUI and PSAI will have no problem with C-cards being accepted. The agencies need to work together, which they are, to prevent government interference in the sport of scuba diving. Only by working together can they show governments of the world solidarity. There are those who criticize the minimum standards set forth by the RSTC, but the mission is to identify the standards of diving that will be the absolute minimum to prevent governments controlling diving, much like the FAA contols skydiving, and to keep the standards to a level that are defendable in court. In a litigious society, the higher the standards become, the more likely even the best instructors could miss a dot in an "i" or a cross in a "t" that could cost them their careers. Good instructors recognize this and meet or exceed any standards the RSTC sets forth that won't place a student at risk or advance them too quickly. Also, several agencies within the RSTC have higher standards than those the RSTC sets forth. While North America once solely dominated diver training, a new challenge for diving standards comes through the European Union and through continued economic and recreational development of countries and regions that are emerging with greater populations of divers or as more popular diving destinations. The challenge of the future is to work with governments and agencies that were once closed societies, and allow continued growth of the sport with as little government interference as possible, globally.
In short, what the work of the RSTC and the WRSTC is doing for the diving public is making it easier to present a C-card anywhere in the world with less hassle.
At the grass roots level, it would be ridiculous, especially in this economy, to give divers a hard time over C-cards. I still hear the murmurs of dive shop owners from time to time. Unfortunately, dive shops have yet to learn that supermarkets and other businesses don't try to give customers a hard time. You can walk into a Wegman's holding a Starbuck's coffee and not get attitude, and the obviously vegan skinny little sales girl at the register will sell you steaks without batting an eye at what she may inwardly believe to be the political incorrectness of your purchase.
Dive shops are hungry and fight over you like a pack of wolves over the same carcass.
When they get ornery, just show them your wallet and it reminds them who is boss.
The customer just needs to be aware that sometimes, there may be really great instructors and staff who may have more, and the right kind of experience, to really teach and lead you. To those, you should listen. To the idiots, just show them the hand signals that trimix divers use before giving their regulator to an out of gas diver:
QUESTION ... (curled index finger)
MASTERCARD? (three fingers pointing down forming an "M")
VISA? (backward peace sign)
or
AMERICAN EXPRESS? (inverted peace sign + three fingers pointed to the left for an "E")
Then just pat them on the head as they fill your tanks.
