I'm not nervous, my mom is.

[Can't swim]

tight rope,
That is too funny.
I hope you had a sharp knife!!!

 

[Jax]

Can't swim, you think that's bad?

People ask me if it was hard to learn how to swim.

I tell them not half as hard as cutting my way out of that burlap bag.

No harm, no foul....
I've tried to talk a lot of people into taking diving classes and going with me in the Shenandoah river to look around.
They tell me they can't swim, you should see their faces when I tell them I can't either but put fins, snorkel and mask on me and I'm like a fish. Or that when I tell them that I'm afraid of the water but I love being under the water.
Now, thanks to Jim at Action Scuba, I am comfortable in the water and I am waiting for the spring thaw so that the river is warm enough for a 5 mil suit.

Oh and good luck again to nwNemo

Y'all are hilarious!! Thanks for promoting scuba!

 

[mselenaous]

Hi Ben, Congratulations on wanting to be a diver. I started at 13 also. I hope you have as much fun diving as I have. You have received some excellent advice in this forum, so I would ask you to humor me as I give you mine. I can only speak for myself.

I am 56 years old and have 2 grown children, a boy and a girl. If you want to get the quickest response from me, try laying a hand on either one, because that act is going to result in blood shed.

I am a parent, and it is my job to protect and look out for their welfare. I do this because I love them. And this love doesn't stop at the end of the day, I do not shut it off when I go to bed, or on weekends or holidays, it doesn't matter how old they are, or where they are. It's twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. These are the rules as were handed down from my parents, and I imagine that every parent has their own set of rules.

I know sometimes this can be over bearing, but a simple glance at any newspaper and you will quickly realize it could be a lot worse.

But now, the purpose of this message. I am going to share with you a technique that "NO PARENT" wants you to know. I know first hand it will get you results , as my daughter was an expert at it. One simple word........................BLACKMAIL!

Let me explain how this works. First you'll need a few things,
1) Child
2) parent
and 3) audience, crowd, or, after my daughter was done with them, an angry mob.

This is how it works. My daughter wants to do something that I am dead set against. This is how she shows me the error of my ways.

First, she needs an audience, supermarket, mall, department store. Now this is what happens next,
Daughter: Thanks for taking me along with you today DADDY, YOU'RE THE BEST DADDY A GIRL COULD EVER HAVE.

MOB; oh you must be so proud of her, she's a little angel.

dad: ( under my breath ) if you only knew. Now, she has the mob eating right out of her hand, when she drops the first of two bombs.

daughter: Dad, how old am I ?

Dad: there is no doubt in my mind that this child is evil. Ben, every parent with in earshot of that question is now Starring at me! And they are not happy!

dad: sweating, choking getting ready to pass out,

Why, you're ten years old, ah right? Now it's interesting to point out that at no time did she try to signal me of her age,for that would not have gotten the result she wanted. For example, two fingers and five are seven, or four fingers and four are eight. NO, no no, she just let me stand there and sweat.

daughter: oh daddy, you're so silly, you know I' m twelve. Now she has the mob primed for what's going to happen next, she drops the final bomb.

Daughter: Daddy, whens my birthday? Now I have to act quickly, as I value my life. I feel like I am in court, and I'm approaching the bench to make a deal. I approach her very defiantly so as not to show weakness. But I also have to be humble, because it is painfully obvious who is in charge.

Dad: OK what is it you want to do?
Daughter: I want to bungy jump.
Dad: are you outta your min.....
Daughter: in a very loud voice, when's my birthday Dadddddddyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?
Dad: alright alright you win, now call off your goons!
Daughter: you're right dad, my birthdays May 6.

Ben, you can see how close that was. And you would think I would have learned what she was doing as it was not the first time she did this to me.

Now Ben, I'm sure if you practice this time tested technique it will Surely get results. I only hope they are the results you want.

Nowwwwwwwwww,if that doesn't work, my son, when he didn't get his way, used to make like he was dead and I would have to drag him through the whole store. But you might be a little to old for that one.

Happy holidays,

Another hysterically funny post...TRW, dude, you are a riot.

 

[Can't swim]

nwNemo,
Well, I hope you have learned something from your original post, and at an early age.
You have found out that there are lots of people, probably about your parents age or older that understand your dilemma and are supportive of you and your mother.
You have also learned that there are people who enjoy scuba so much, that they have posted this many replies.
Again, good luck!!
I wish I'd learned the sport before I was 50!!!

 

[Polar_diver]

Eh... I'm 44 and my dad is still telling me to watch both sided before I go across the street...

 

[tight rope walker]

tight rope,
That is too funny.
I hope you had a sharp knife!!!

Knife,what knife?

I had to use the bricks that were in the bottom of the sack to beat my way out.


WAIT A MINUTE,I WONDER, WHY DID MY DAD PUT THOSE BRICKS IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SACK????????

 

[Bob DBF]

Hey! I'm new here, I'm 13 and my name is Ben. I got a PADI Scuba Course Gift Certificate for Christmas [which took a ton of convincing to get that far.] I'm totally excited, not nervous one bit about Scuba diving, the problem is, my mom is incredibly nervous about me Scuba diving. What can I tell her?

Since your the kid and shes the mom it is actually her job to worry. Since you did get the course your talk must be on the right track.

What will be more important now is how you act. You are taking up an adult sport and one worry is whether you will be an adult while diving. Learn the coursework inside out, when working with the instructor have an ongoing discussion of your progress, and what you can do to improve. The only stupid question is the one you don't ask and need the answer to later. In the end you have to show the maturity to decide when to call a dive and not be pressured into changing your mind just because the buddies are "older and wiser". When your mom sees the actions of an adult she won't stop worrying but, it may slow down the gray hairs you are giving her.

Although SCUBA diving is serous, you can have a lot of fun with it as you can tell by reading many members of this board.

Bob
SCUBA since '63
-----------------------
I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.

 

[tight rope walker]

Since your the kid and shes the mom it is actually her job to worry. Since you did get the course your talk must be on the right track.

What will be more important now is how you act. You are taking up an adult sport and one worry is whether you will be an adult while diving. Learn the coursework inside out, when working with the instructor have an ongoing discussion of your progress, and what you can do to improve. The only stupid question is the one you don't ask and need the answer to later. In the end you have to show the maturity to decide when to call a dive and not be pressured into changing your mind just because the buddies are "older and wiser". When your mom sees the actions of an adult she won't stop worrying but, it may slow down the gray hairs you are giving her.

Although SCUBA diving is serous, you can have a lot of fun with it as you can tell by reading many members of this board.

Bob
SCUBA since '63
-----------------------
I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.

That's some very good advice.

I kinda like your style BOB DBF.

 

[Rutger]

Great first post. Welcome to the board and welcome to Diving. Most elements have been covered above, including the most important one, which is your Mom is simply doing her job, worry about your wellbeing. Now its time for you to do yours! you are getting into an incredibly rewarding and enjoyable hobby. However, do your mom proud and learn and practice the skills that will keep you safe in a sport where there are some inherent risks.
If she is letting you do this, in spite of her fears, then it sounds like she has instilled some independence in you. That comes with responsibility to reward her trust.
Once you get OW certified, practice, dive lots (within conservative safety margins) and ask lots of questions to those more experienced than you. Don't forget to tell your mom of all the neat adventures you get into and cool stuff you see/experience underwater, so she can get a sense of your skill and responsibility in action.

DONT tell her about any near-misses though or brag about risk-taking or you will freak her out even more.

 

[tight rope walker]

OKAY BEN, a lot of good divers have given you some great advice here. But you're not responding.

Please tell me you didn't do what I said, and now your mom has gone kung fu on you or something. Did you do EXACTLY like I told you? Please tell me you didn't improvise.

Oh, the humanity!

Alright, alright, now just calm down and call this number, 1-800-Help!!!

And always remember, moms have a way of getting even!