Not being a mega-super diver, perhaps I am missing the point of these threads, but truly I expect different things from my 'paid buddy' in different situations, so I didn`t check a box. Dive professionals work in a service industry, and that:s something that many of the posts in this and similar threads seem to forget. I:ve seen quite a few posts about tipping DMs but what exactly are we supposed to tip for? We tip for service, no?
Ask a ten lawyers about the OBLIGATIONS of a DM. I`m sure that you`ll get ten different answers but we all know that lawyers aren`t human. Is that the baseline that you want to use if you are a DM? Service isn`t about obligation. Waiters are service personnel and those that meet their obligations to me usually get lower tips than those who go beyond. I haven`t been a DM, but I`ve waited tables and there is definitely an art to service. It`s about knowing people and anticipating their needs and desires so that you can assist them in effortlessly enjoying their dining experience... or their dive.
This holds true whether your customer is a newly minted diver with poor skills (see the many threads on poor agency training standards), or a tech-master who resents your presence in the same ocean while they`re diving in it. A good DM should be adaptable to either situation. That means hanging back and letting tech-master do their thing, or helping newbie with even the most basic skills.
While I`m sure that the latter example goes beyond the strict obligation of a DM, it`s an example of good service, safety, and perhaps even a bit of pride in one`s job. For people who don`t mind or even enjoy service jobs, there are rewards beyond wages. For those who work service to pay the rent, I`m sure that it sucks but if it sucks for you it`s guaranteed to suck even worse for the person you are supposed to be serving. Ever dived with a burned-out guide in a new location? I have. Thank you, good bye; I`ll find another shop for the rest of my stay.
As I read the many opinions in these threads, and having read through the options in the poll above, I`ve found the thinking too linear; too black and white. Some people need more help than others and some people need help in some situations but not others, and some people never want help and some people shouldn`t even be in the ocean, but if one is paid to guide such a diver, shouldn`t the DM at least do their best to give them what DMs get paid for; get them out alive, and perhaps even show them a good time? DMs aren`t paid to dive, they are paid to assist others in diving, be that guiding them around or (as I`ve seen many times with malnurished Japanese women) towing them around.
If diver ineptitude is the issue, that goes back to the old training standards discussion. While I know YOU never let an inept diver get a c-card, someone is doing so! Perhaps the correct choice is to give up your PADI or SSI or whatever affiliation and find the strictest agency around and only work with their divers. Does GUE have their recreational cert yet (that`s rhetorical, in fact I could care less)?
As to obligation; if you are a DM then you know that you will, at times, be working with divers who have insufficient skills. Do you have to help them with buoyancy? No. Should you? I guess that depends if you take any pride in your work. 'Diving' for other divers occasionally comes with the territory, although I`m sure there is no legal obligation to do so. Should any agency certify an inept diver? Of course not. Do they? You bet `cha. It`s part of, what I like to call, reality. Deal with it. Will lawyers create the perception that DMs need to be omniscient and omnipotent during a dive to protect all in there group no matter what? Hmmmmm. I bet they will if they can make a buck at it. Isn`t that what DMs carry insurance for? I can`t claim to know everything about DM liability, but that should be covered during DM certification class I think. Lawyers, being lawyers, will argue this or that, but then again that`s their job, so...
What I`m really trying to say is; different people have different expectations of what their DM should be doing for them during a dive. What DMs SHOULD do is based on the needs of the customers and/or the communicated commitments agreed upon before the monetary transaction. Some dives put you out on your own with a DM onboard as a `safety diver` or whatever. Fine, as long as I know that`s the deal before I sign up. There is room, however, for a bit of professionalism and genuine good service among inwater DMs which, it should be hoped, could inspire a DM do do a bit, or a lot more for their customers to help them enjoy their dives.
I`m not railing against DMs in any way. I travel a lot and almost always go on guided dives. I`ve been fortunate enough that all but two of the DMs I`ve been with have serviced low-maintenance divers like me and completely inept divers, often at the same time, and usually quite well.
Liability is a legal issue, so best left to the legal system. Lawyers will argue and harangue but that`s just what they do. If there are unfair practices or standards of liability in place that is for Agencies, Dive Professionals and Lawyers to sift through. DMs do have a measure of responsibility for their charges in most situations. Exactly how much seems to be the point in question. As we`ve seen recently, laymen (like me) have varied opinions and that`s ok. It might be useful in ruminations such as these, however, if we can step back a bit, and try not to apply one uniform standard to every situation. That one standard being MY standard, of course.
