First, Todd's name is spelled Yarbrough. If you had taken the time to read the posts in full you would know the correct spelling.
Next, Todd didn't care about the table situation. We are either at Morrison or Vortex every single weekend. We know what “busy” looks like at both. We can set up in our car if we need to. It is a bit ridiculous that people hoard tables so they have a separate place to eat then where they set up their gear, but whatever we are used to that. We are there to dive.
The "old lady" interrupted a class without knowing what she was talking about. She was listening in on a conversation and misheard. (she was about ten feet away) Todd was speaking in a normal tone but due to the distance she only heard part of the conversation which is how this all got started. She thought Todd was talking about Naui when in fact he was talking about PADI. He was telling the students when he went through IDC it was a 3 month long class, whereas now it is around 7 days. Well, instead of smarting off to her he simply stated that he wasn't speaking about NAUI but he did happen to know about Naui standards since he is an Instructor Tranier with NAUI. Our students, two of which are from the Ozark area, mentioned that they would not be visiting that shop after her behavior. Todd even told them not to base their decisions on the action of one person.
We did our three dives and finished up around noon. We were loading up gear when the kids ran under the pavilion and noticed all of the tables were taken. They then turned to the lady and said "excuse maam may we share a table with you". Well she most certainly said no. Yes it was not flooding at the time, but it was sprinkling. Regardless you just said that you guys were finished up so why not share? They were kids wanting to sit down and eat, something that would have taken them 10 minutes to accomplish.
The weather in PC has been blown out for a while, and with classes we always take them to the springs anyway. Diving when it is crowded is something we are used to. We do it year round regardless of temperature or weather, unless it is a hurricane because well it’s hard to drive in 70mph winds, most of the bridges are closed.
We never had any complaints about divers; everyone in the water was awesome. No fighting over spots and it wasn't too crowded, but there was definitely some hostility on land for no reason.
We were set up on the edge of the concrete so we actually had a few steps shorter of a walk then if we had a table.
Yes, the forums are about diving, but you just ranted too so that doesn't make your comment any different from Todd's except you name called, and were rude. I don’t even know the other people who commented, but there seems to be one common denominator, which is the behavior of a certain person.
Like I said before, we are all here to dive. First come or not we should all be willing to share especially with kids. We are supposed to be setting an example. It is hard for them to respect their elders if the elders are always rude. We shouldn't interrupt other people’s classes. If you don't agree with something pull them to the side and talk to them don't do it in front of their students. I am no better than anyone else. No matter how much "experience" I have. We dive around 1000 dives a year. Classes go nonstop in PC so we get to see the sites when they are crowded, when they are empty, when it is bad weather, when no one else wants to get in, when there are no tables, when there are plenty of tables. True, we haven’t been diving since the 70’s but we do know a thing or two about the sport. We are always polite to other divers regardless of organization, age, or shop affiliation.