Can a floridian diver measure sense of time correctly?

[yarik83]

Different people get irked by different things. Mine.. especially as of late is having to deal with A LOT of people who got certified at one point or another and still consider themselves "divers". More often than not when I tell people that I dive.. they respond with "ohh... I dive too.... " and when I ask them when and where they dive.. answer is always the same... eyes roll to back of their heads, head slightly tilts, index and middle finger rich the chin and convulsively start scratching it and a little while later they respond with... "well I dont dive anymore".. so my follow up question is.. "well how long ago was your last dive?" (expecting to hear like 3 months-3 years). Answer is always in lines of... well me and my .... used to dive in the keys in 1982 and I have not dove since.

Maybe its just me... but how does 3-5 years compare with 28 years of not diving? I am 27 now and thats longer than I am alive... and weird thing is that I meet countless number of people who used to dive 20-30 years ago who still consider themselves active divers. Is it really that difficult to cut right to the chase and say.. well when I was in my 20s I used to dive.... or I used to dive 20 years ago.... ok ok ok I can see how older divers can lose sense of time but what about younger ones? I have co-workers who are in their late 20's who got certified and have not gone diving since age 12.

Today is a long long rainy day so I am venting. Just thought if anyone else fells that any diver who have not gone diving for 10+ years and is in no way associated with diving (ie industry or is a bubble watcher for various reasons)... should no longer be calling themselves an active diver?

 

[cpoynter84]

I hear ya! I just got back from Jamaica and while I was diving down there I had many conversations with people that did the same thing. I am 26 and got cert. when I was 13 and have not gone more than 1 year without doing at least 1 dive but I avg. much more than that now that I own my own boat.

 

[pjhansman]

ok ok ok I can see how older divers can lose sense of time

seriously....?

how good of you to be so understanding with us old folks.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

This should be moved to Whine and Cheese

 

[Walter]

I'm not sure how one (Floridian or otherwise) measures a sense of time. I'm sure it has nothing to do with your complaint.

People like to find they have things in common with other people, so when you mention you dive, they show you they have something in common with you. It's a compliment to you.

any diver who have not gone diving for 10+ years and is in no way associated with diving (ie industry or is a bubble watcher for various reasons)... should no longer be calling themselves an active diver?

I missed the part where they considered themselves "active" divers. You reported they say something like, "ohh... I dive too...." That's not the same as claiming active status.

You will encounter this as long as you dive. If/When you stop diving, you may even do it yourself.

 

[Rickelpickel]

Oh yeah I forgot to mention, I dive too.... like yesterday.....lololol yeah but I do kinda know what u mean.. and agree to some extent. saying your a diver kinda implies that u dive... IMO... Not that you used to dive. I think it's a little misleading. weather on purpose or not... is for you to decide.... well that's my 2 cents... :mooner:

 

[KBeck]

I'm going to agree with Walter here.

I think often people try to find common threads and use them as an opening for conversation.

I had a wonderful conversation with a guy Fri. evening at Blue Heron Bridge after I'd exited the water, and was waiting for my buddy to finish up. He approached me and asked about my camera first, then stated he "dove".....learned to dive when he was 10, but that he prefers fishing from the boat these days.

However, he happily continued the conversation and remarked on a number of my items of gear and how they were so different from what it remembered. It made for a great opening to discuss how diving has changed over the years and ended with him saying maybe he'd consider getting back into it again, now that he knew he could dive from the shore, etc.

Now, I could have brushed him off and been un-welcoming. However, I'd like to think that by simply being friendly and open to his experiences, I opened the door for a lapsed diver to possibly one day coming back to the activity with a new viewpoint, AND with an idea that "Wow! These divers really are an open-minded, friendly group!"

Florida is fairly unique in the sheer number of people that likely fall into your group described above.....I'd like for them to walk away thinking good things about us "active" divers.

 

[wilderydude83]

Uhhh, does that really make you mad? The type of people you're referring to are probably people that enjoy being in the water, or at least did at some point in their life, and are just making friendly conversation with someone who has similar interests. I'm sure their emphasis isn't on their current dive status, or lack thereof, but probably that they found someone with a common hobby. I'm not trying to be snarky, i'm just saying try letting that kind of stuff go and perhaps have a good conversation with a stranger.

 

[DebbyDiver]

I simply do not see how this topic applies to Floridians. It is a worldwide topic, not a local one.

That said, people think divers are cool and if someone dove once or twice or a long time ago, they still want to feel pretty cool. They like to talk about their experiences and it makes them feel good about themselves.

Still, I remember being so annoyed when friends kept saying I should meet this guy "the diver", oh, he dives, Debby, you should meet him. Met him...he did Discover Diving ONCE on a cruise ship over a decade ago. Yet he refers to himself as a diver to all and you know what, most people don't know the difference. I will admit to being highly annoyed about it (and there were a whole boatload of other reasons why I found his personality unattractive) but still, he wants to be "cool" so he goes around saying he's a diver.

 

[yarik83]

After reading some of your comments I think I am starting to understand how my interpretation of things differs from yours. It may sound weird when I say this but I tend to associate what people tell me with some sort of possession. In other words if someone tells me they smoke for example... I would assume that they smoke on a regular basis otherwise they would not tell me they smoke. If they did not specify that they smoke only once a month, any reasonable person would assume that they are a regular smoker. By same principle I think I am also associating the word "diver" with concept of somewhat active diver.

I am weird like that.