I did an experiment ... I have a friend who's always been very frank with me that he'd never dive ... but he and I go way back (1st grade actually) and we've always been kinda weird when it comes to stories of morbidity or the grotesque ... we laugh between ourselves about how graphic we can get when describing things and our wives are always leaving the room (boys who haven't grown up sorta thing). Anyway we started talking last night when he was over my house for a visit, about gruesome ways to die, which as you can imagine led me to my recent fodder for thought - Michael Ange's book. One thing led to another and I pulled it off my bookshelf and started reading one of my fav stories to him. He was completely glued. Given how thick our skin is over this type of thing, I was a bit surprised at his reaction. He was kind of quiet as I finished the story, then his only comment was "And that is why I don't dive" ... Doh ... for the last 24 hours I've been beating myself up a bit about it ... my advice to anyone who owns this book - it's not for everyone, you should think before sharing the contents - especially with the squeamish or on the other end of the spectrum - those who already have an anxiety about the water. Just thought this personal advice might help you save a future dive buddy or at least keep noobs diving longer - that is until they are more advanced and more likely to handle it better.
