BluewaterSail
Happy in Doubles
I think that whetheran operator is strict about rule enforcement or not, if you as a diver go on a trip with an operator, then you are obligated to follow their rules. If you don't like those rules, use a different operator. There is no special dispensation because you are a diving god. I have read posts on ScubaBoard from people who brag about refusing to follow such rules, and I have no admiration for that attitude.
A number of years ago I went to Grand Cayman, and as soon as I arrived I went out with the dive operator stationed at our resort. On that dive we were all required to follow the DM in single file for a 35 minute dive. I did that. As soon as I was back in my room, I did the research I should have done before the trip and found an operator much more to my liking, located only a few miles away.
If you want to stage a rebellion, do it by looking for another operator, not by starting an insurrection during the dive. Better yet, do your research and make sure you will be going with an operator whose rules you can respect.
I think that sometimes its a particular DM that likes to treat divers like kindergarden students for whatever reason, but its not the rule of the operation. I went on a short boat ride to a small wreck one day. After we had been down there for a little while, the DM, who happened to be a very experienced instructor of OW, gathered us all up and wanted us to all sit on the bow of the wreck, with our feet dangling into a large open hatch. I was new enough at the time that I did what I was told, since I didn't see it as a safety hazard, but it really pissed me off. Today there is no way I would do that. And if that guy is assigned to a dive I signed up for in the future, I would probably pass on it.
I have had really wonderful dives with other staff from that operation, so I am sure that could not have been a shop thing. In fact when I mentioned it later to some other staff, they just smiled and said that this fella has been doing the same things for so many years that he's just set in his ways.