Can the prior experience of your instructor save your life?

[wtcreaux]

From my Pops - "Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from making bad decisions (and living through them)"

Voltaire (paraphrased) - "A smart man learns from his experiences, a truly wise one learns from others."

Common saying (paraphrased) amongst Emergency Services - "some times in life, there are NO second chances"

Tag line here on SB (humble apologies for not remembering whose, and may be paraphrased) - "when you have a problem underwater, relax and think.....you have the rest of your life to figure it out."

I STRONGLY believe in the value of listening to the "old timers"......listen CAREFULLY as there is usually a lesson to be found IF your looking (a favorite tactic of my grandfather....who was on Omaha, Battle of the Bulge, and Remagen). There is a DIFFERENCE between a newbie bragging (listen for the "what I did right") about his story and an "old-timer" telling his for you to learn (listen for the "what I did wrong").......

 

[fjpatrum]

I suspect that it doesn't matter whose experiences you listen to, as long as you listen. Whether the newb who asks a seemingly simple question or the old salt who dove while Jesus walked on water. If you listen to what they say, you're going to learn something.

 

[freewillie]

From my Pops - "Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from making bad decisions (and living through them)"

Voltaire (paraphrased) - "A smart man learns from his experiences, a truly wise one learns from others."

Common saying (paraphrased) amongst Emergency Services - "some times in life, there are NO second chances"

Tag line here on SB (humble apologies for not remembering whose, and may be paraphrased) - "when you have a problem underwater, relax and think.....you have the rest of your life to figure it out."

I STRONGLY believe in the value of listening to the "old timers"......listen CAREFULLY as there is usually a lesson to be found IF your looking (a favorite tactic of my grandfather....who was on Omaha, Battle of the Bulge, and Remagen). There is a DIFFERENCE between a newbie bragging (listen for the "what I did right") about his story and an "old-timer" telling his for you to learn (listen for the "what I did wrong").......

To paraphrase, we used to say in residency, "good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

Confucious, "the difference between a wise man and a fool is a wise man learns from his mistakes."

Horace Greely, "common sense is commonly uncommon."

Me, "glad it all worked out."

 

[Mr. Willoughby]

I was very grateful for the training that I received in the military and for the experience that training (and repetitive training) gave me. When I needed to keep a cool head during my first emergency situation I was surprised at how quickly and easily my mind and body began to react.

Thankfully, and most beneficially that experience and training was able to easily stay with me in civilian life for use when needed (and I was surprised how often it has been needed over the years).

 

[g1138]

I recall my instructor once saying that marriage was a death trap.....guess he was right.

 

[flots am]

I have often experienced and heard of the words of an instructor or mentor coming to mind in times of distress. Stop, Think, Act.

I got "Don't Panic!" from Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy. It's proved useful a number of times.

The other one is "If you're pissed off, you're not dead yet." I got that from an ER nurse.

What I got from one of my instructors were instructions that almost proved fatal, which became my second most useful bit of training: "If something is f***ing stupid, it's still f***ing stupid if an instructor says it"

flots.

 

[freewillie]

What I got from one of my instructors were instructions that almost proved fatal, which became my second most useful bit of training: "If something is f***ing stupid, it's still f***ing stupid if an instructor says it"