Until I started participating on the Scuba Board forum, I was unaware that there was this pervasive bitterness on the part of scuba instructors toward their students.
There seems to be hostility toward incompetence, a sort of arrogance, among many of the posters here. Most of the instructors on this forum are as nice as could be, but many seem to have a certain resentment or hostility, for some reason.
Any idea where this comes from?
I wonder if it has to do with their clientele making more money than they do. I understand that scuba instruction is not very well compensated, whereas the expenses associated with scuba diving make it a sport more likely to be practiced by those with comfortable incomes.
I think we need to remember that Matt's first post was about the difficulty he had with his Open Water. From what I remember, the instructor was less than helpful when Matt was having difficulties. A first experience like this will frame our opinions quite easily. That experience, plus some less than friendly responses here result in the OP.
That being said, I put in bold a sentence that, while not outside the TOS, is baiting. No less baiting than, "you should have learned that in your OW," or "do a search."