Bitterness of Scuba Instructors

[Rhone Man]

Instructors who post on SB are in no way representative of the whole of the scuba instructors population, in both good ways and bad. Couple of illustrations (and trying to stay away from sensitive or pejorative stuff):

• The "consensus" view on SB tends to be in favour of BP/W. Most instructors I know in real life express a strong preference for jacket style BCDs.
  
• Many if not most instructors on SB are also tec trained. But in real life a tiny minority of instructors are tec trained.
• Most SB instructors would toughen up standards for courses. Most instructors I know in real life are more concerned with churning them over quickly to make a buck.
  
• Most instructors I know in real life do it for a couple of years and then move on with their lives. For most people on SB it is a lifetime passion.
• DIR community is significantly bigger and more active on SB than in the diving population as a whole.
• Lot more cold water divers on SB than in the population as a whole.

Just sayin' - you have to be careful about extrapolating.

 

[rhwestfall]

again, letting this hide in this forum is without merit.....

 

[gcarter]

Until I started participating on the Scuba Board forum, I was unaware that there was this pervasive bitterness on the part of scuba instructors toward their students.

There seems to be hostility toward incompetence, a sort of arrogance, among many of the posters here. Most of the instructors on this forum are as nice as could be, but many seem to have a certain resentment or hostility, for some reason.

Any idea where this comes from?

I wonder if it has to do with their clientele making more money than they do. I understand that scuba instruction is not very well compensated, whereas the expenses associated with scuba diving make it a sport more likely to be practiced by those with comfortable incomes.

You really seem to like poking bears...

 

[flots am]

This from a physician? I've watched a few episodes of HOUSE, you guys are all bitter and hate filled.

I'd be bitter too, if I had several $100K in student loans and just discovered that I'm getting paid less to see a patient, than a plumber who stuffs a plunger down a vent pipe gets.

flots.

 

[beautybelow]

Is it possible you are confusing bitterness with ego?

 

[flots am]

Until I started participating on the Scuba Board forum, I was unaware that there was this pervasive bitterness on the part of scuba instructors toward their students.

There seems to be hostility toward incompetence, a sort of arrogance, among many of the posters here. Most of the instructors on this forum are as nice as could be, but many seem to have a certain resentment or hostility, for some reason.

Any idea where this comes from?

From my perspective, it's not bitterness, it's more sadness, at seeing new divers having the same unnecessary problems and bad experiences, again and again.

Diving should be happy and exciting and fun. There's no reason a new diver couldn't take a trip to Cozumel for example, and come back with stories of cool fish and turtles and rays and gorgeous coral, but more often than not, we hear about getting seperated, injured, blown dive plans, running out of air, and DMs that didn't "take care" of the diver like the diver expected. With better training, these are all completely avoidable issues, and it's sad to see them recur with the frequency they do.

I wonder if it has to do with their clientele making more money than they do. I understand that scuba instruction is not very well compensated, whereas the expenses associated with scuba diving make it a sport more likely to be practiced by those with comfortable incomes.

I don't actually know any US SCUBA instructors that live off their SCUBA income. The guys I know all have other jobs that pay pretty well, or are retired. None do it for the money. By my best guess, I lose ~$100 in billable time from my real job, for each class session I teach. I'm sure others lose more.

flots.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I don't want to fuel a tangent, but I can hardly let that go without some follow-up.

Around 4 years college typically emphasizing demanding natural sciences curricula, needing a GPA 3.5+ to have a credible shot at (but no guarantee with) medical school, 4 hard years with no income & racking up a very large debt, then 3 - 5 years specialty training with low pay, then finally getting out to start making 'good' money in your late 20's (unless you're a non-traditional) in an occupation with at times big stakes, knowing most every doc. has patients who die sooner or later, and at some point you're probably going to wonder whether something you did or didn't do had anything to do with a debt; juries & malpractice attorney's may wonder, too. And while there are Physicians who make a lot of money, some of the primary care folks like Family Practice physicians aren't amongst them, and if you add up their sheer hour loads, workload, responsibility level, the importance/stakes of the work, and then spread that income over all those years where they got no pay (or low) & borrowed money, & deduct the debt + interest...

Then compare that to what a college student of similar ability, work ethic & drive might well have made getting an MBA or an Engineering degree, perhaps, and working with that.

Over the long haul, the Physician may well come out ahead. But I'm here to tell you, that's one LONG haul...

Medical schools are taking applications though!

Richard.

That would explain it ... went to see my family doctor a coupla weeks ago. Dude looked like crap. I felt like we should change places and I should be the one telling him he needs to take better care of himself ... I think the stress and long hours are getting to him.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[BluewaterSail]

This is Basic Scuba Discussions and I promised to behave here, so I won't ask the OP for one of his explicit personal examples supporting this claim (instead of innuendo) or post a well-deserved .

I also wonder what brought on this question. I have been hanging around this forum for about a year, and I have not noticed a significant amount of bitterness aimed at students. Other aspects of the situation, but not students.

Matt, could you please give some examples? Did someone write something that you think was uncalled for?

 

[TSandM]

I'd be bitter too, if I had several $100K in student loans and just discovered that I'm getting paid less to see a patient, than a plumber who stuffs a plunger down a vent pipe gets.

The list of people who make more money an hour than I do: The guy who digs up my septic tank when it clogs on a weekend; the personal training I went to for a very short time (and would love to go to again, but I can't afford her); a whole HOST of riding instructors I've done clinics with. Some of the latter have rare talent, but you can't tell me that it takes either talent or education to dig up a septic tank . . .

 

[SDAnderson]

The list of people who make more money an hour than I do: The guy who digs up my septic tank when it clogs on a weekend; the personal training I went to for a very short time (and would love to go to again, but I can't afford her); a whole HOST of riding instructors I've done clinics with. Some of the latter have rare talent, but you can't tell me that it takes either talent or education to dig up a septic tank . . .

Perhaps you need to broaden your definition of "talent." If it was so easy, everybody would be doing it; the fact that they aren't means it requires a person with some kind of special abilities - the pocket definition of talented.