There is a time when a boy will become a man. And at 26, even though I have the heart, and infectious laughter, of a child, I would consider myself a man. Yet there are times when our mettle will be tested. This past week was one of those times. Our fearless leader and mentor Jose, was called away on business to Mexico City. This left your favorite young interns (Bradley, Patrick) in charge of their very own diving operation! Woohoo! Playa Del Carmen + No Boss + Empty Apartment = PARTYYYYYY. Right? Wrong. As it goes, it turned out to be one of our busiest weeks to date (diving included Puerto Morelos, Playa Del Carmen, Dos Ojos, more Dos Ojos, and even some of that underwater eye candy known as Cozumel). Not a bad spread. The kicker was that we were in the drivers seat dont worry, we werent leading dives, as we are not certified yet, but rather we used an extensive contact list of Cave guides, DMs, and Instructors at our disposal. What we DID do was everything else. Answer phone calls, coordinate boats, process reservations, open the shop, maintain the shop, close the shop, prepare gear, rinse gear, get tanks, drop off tanks, marketthe shop, make sure everyone paid or got paid, fix underwater torches , replace regulator mouthpieces (cause evidently they are tasty?), make sure the finances were kept in line, make sure the guests had a great time, brush our teeth, get some sleep, occasionally shower, and deal with any of the other 1 zillion things that come up while getting people in and out of the water. Im now tired after having typed that. But this is what Brad and I signed up for. We didnt sign up to party (other than our night off
.ok and maybe a couple of other late nights here and there). We did sign up to get an intense look at the diving industry all whilst completing our Divemaster curriculum. Guess we all have to prioritize at some point.
So did we survive a week without our boss? Im here typing this blog/thread, so yes, we survived. And deep down inside, as hectic as the situation might have been, it reassured me that the professional diving world is one that I want to be part of. Would I want to run my own show, maybe, maybe not? It is far too early to tell. But never ever say never ever.
OK. Boss is back. Gotta go.
Till next time.
Hugs and Kisses,
Patricio.