Anything you can do, I can do better...

[rawls]

Roadtrip, we may take you up on your offer. In fact I am traveling to Charlotte next week for business. I am not to sure where that is in relation to you. My girl is from a small town call Havelock NC. She keeps threatening me to move down there. Should I be scared?

eants...Take her up on her threat. You will be 20 minutes from some of the best diving in North America....Wilmington is not the place to be for diving...not alot there...and Hellacious traffic...

You shouldn't be scared...You should be saying Well....Ok honey
You also won't find alot of the egos you have been dealing with elsewhere...

Oh did I tell you this one time in band camp I went diving in a lake that was 500 feet deep and the only thing I took down with me was a candle for light?

You mean you forgot your flute...

 

[2psquared]

It is the ulitmate "I caught the biggest FISH!" story. Every bar , every night, same thing. Nothing new in this world!

 

[jpsexton]

It could be oneupmanship or it could just be someone wanting to share their story as well. I guess it depends on how you look at it. I like to trade dive stories and I never think of it as trying to outdo each other.

 

[David P]

hmm interesting. After reading this I guess I can see it. One LDS tried to belittle my doubles, "eww forget that, give me a rebreather any day..." Other than that, I have seen it in other customers of dive shops. I don't think any of my dive friends are that way, some of them are very accomplished divers (whatever that means) who can discuss different deco theories/gradient factors ect. but there doesn't seem to be any ego. I don't think I give off that vibe, Im no super diver by any means, but if I have more experience in something, I am more than happy to help someone else learn. I think it is all about who you hang out with. If I hear the macho chest thumping crap, I just turn and walk away.

 

[Damselfish]

I agree with jpsexton. There will always be braggarts out there, though I've been fortunate not to run into many. But when we're anyplace with a bunch of divers, it's pretty natural for the conversation to turn to discussions of where people have been or what they have done, and it's really just people chatting about a common love and sharing information. And if you're new, well obviously many people will have done more, or been more places, or whatever. Do you not want to hear about it? It can be very informative, even better in person than a message board for learning the real scoop on things.

So if you're really running into jerks - avoid them, ignore them, whatever. Feel assured that everyone else recognizes them for what they are too. But also recognize if people are just making conversation, and enjoy. (Sometimes you can even pick up some useful info from the jerks, or at the very least be entertained by them.)

 

[Zieg]

Split the difference, move to Swansboro, home of THE Mullet Festival.

 

[Rick Murchison]

One of the more fun ways to handle the "biggest, best, fastest, highest, deepest, etc. etc. ad nauseum" guy is illustrated by a friend of mine down in Texas... He keeps a "special" jar of jalapeños handy for just such cases, 'cause inevitably the fellow who's caught the biggest fish and shot the biggest deer also is the hottest jalapeño eater too
Out comes the special jar, "try one of these, they're really hot!"
After one, we don't generally hear much more about "biggest, hottest, etc..." for that trip!
And yes, I've been the one to try one - once.
Lesson learned
Rick

 

[Blackwood]

Just tell them you regularly dive 300ft on air, that'll shut them up

uh, doubt it. That's just inviting a tongue lashing.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

I found the best way to deal with them, is to quietly assemble my gear, ask a couple of questions, nod in the right places, and occasionally I learn something new. Otherwise, I just let them yammer on, tell them that their story is amazing, and they toddle off, satisfied. If they begin telling me about my gear, I nod, continue putting my gear together, and then go on with diving. I just assume that everyone is better at diving than I am, and except for what is really useful and/or intriguing to me, I let it go in one ear and out the other. I'm actually flattered that they would take time out of their day to worry about impressing me.

 

[da-gd]

I've had that happen to me too, BUT it happened to me FIRST and it was much WORSE than it was for you. It has happened to me in a much BETTER place and by MORE elitest people than you experienced. It happens to me MORE often than you because I am such a GREAT diver.