Jax, I hear you. I don't ever ridicule new divers by word or expression. I am attentive, and if asked, love to assist them and answer their questions. I will say that I have been in the water with other divers ( not necessarily new divers) whose buoyancy control was so bad they kicked the bottom and the reef, descended on top of me, and through exertion used up air at an alarming rate. I have had to retrieve "runaway divers" who then have an attitude of "I was fine" despite descending to 130 feet when the dive profile is to 80 feet. And I have had to "rescue" an experienced but inactive diver who determined to ascend from 70 feet by inflating his bcd and "bubbling" to the surface. I have searched for divers and brought them back because they couldn't read a compass and didn't pay attention to terrain. I had to calm a panicked diver and help her replace a mask that another diver kicked off her face when he charged in front of her to see whatever it was she was looking at, and was rude above the water and below. My point is all divers should stay current with both knowledge and skills. If you don't dive for a while, take a refresher course, or at least go to you LDS pool and get re-acquainted with your gear and the water. I observe other divers on the boat. When they struggle with which way the 1st stage goes on the tank valve, forget to hook up a low pressure inflater, have their octo and gauges dangling without control, and are talking or distracted during the dive briefing, I get worried and a little pissed. When I hear divers after a dive say things like "how deep did we go" or "is my buddy back on the boat yet" I react the same way. I love diving, and love sharing our sport. I just think that there are an awful lot of alleged divers out there who for one or more of the reasons I have stated, or others, are not people I want to dive with. So am I the a..hole or is it them?
DivemasterDennis