Just finished the worst dive trip ever.

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Sometimes folks on vacation, enjoying themselves, have trouble finding the OFF switch. I try to keep in mind that it's generally coming from a "happy place." I have in the past turned to the "chatty soul" and told them "Give me a moment, I like to find my Zen before I splash." Then smile broadly (sometimes slightly maniacally depending on the situation) and they have always left me alone. Of course this is nonsense since I find my Zen WHILE diving. :) No need to be rude or pi$$ anyone off. I might want to have a beer with them later. :cheers:
 
Sometimes folks on vacation, enjoying themselves, have trouble finding the OFF switch. I try to keep in mind that it's generally coming from a "happy place." I have in the past turned to the "chatty soul" and told them "Give me a moment, I like to find my Zen before I splash." Then smile broadly (sometimes slightly maniacally depending on the situation) and they have always left me alone. Of course this is nonsense since I find my Zen WHILE diving. :) No need to be rude or pi$$ anyone off. I might want to have a beer with them later. :cheers:
that's my problem... I'm too nice.
 
Where were you diving? Was this person also your dive buddy?
don't want to be specific but... the Caribbean. he was paired up with me for one day but all the rest of the dives was just a bunch of us (up to 10) following the DM. I pretty much do my own thing but don't stray too far from the pack.
 
We experienced one of those on a dive boat once off a cruise ship. WE were the "cruise ship divers" and he was the "land diver". So glad to get back onto that cruise ship!
 
Repetitive projectile sea-sickness vomiting will solve that problem!

You know, I used that technique on this trip once to.... :)
If you purse your lips it works like a lawn spinkler and you will really give yourself some more room....

In one of the Andrea Doria dives I read about (it might have been Shadow Divers) one of those overly talkative divers went over the side and sank like a lawn dart. After some discussion they voted to not report the death until they finished the day’s diving.

Life objective: Don’t be the guy whose death everyone votes to not report. It’s a low bar, but I have to have some minimum standards...
 
don't want to be specific but... the Caribbean. he was paired up with me for one day but all the rest of the dives was just a bunch of us (up to 10) following the DM. I pretty much do my own thing but don't stray too far from the pack.

Wow. I think I was this diver. I can't believe you'd say something so hurtful about me. I had no idea you felt this way the entire time we were talking.



(JUST KIDDING!) :poke: I'm glad the diving was good apart from this. Maybe you have a very approachable and comforting vibe you give others. :) It's a nice thing.
 
find a blank stare followed by "No Hablo Ingles!" or "Que?" does the trick. Especially when you repeat it to them if they re-approach after hearing you talk to others...LOL!

I love it! :rofl3:
 
Well, okay....the diving was great but spending 5 consecutive days on a resort boat with an incessant close talker made me want to jump overboard with Andre the giant's weight belt around my neck and no BCD.

If I had to hear one more story about his dive vacation trip to wherever the hell it was, I swear I would still be swimming back home right now.

I like the chatty ones. It means I don't have to talk.

.... and as you can imagine I've probably been the chatty one ..... from time to time.

When I'm in close quarters with people for an extended period of time, however, I eventually get saturated and need "down time".

I have this at home, where I sometimes spend entire evenings either working or behind my PC on social media "in my own head". I use meditation for this as well. I can also have it at my work where I am often in roles where I am required to communicate a LOT .... my job involves a freakish amount of communication at all kinds of levels, from the guy digging a hole in the ground with a shovel to the board of directors who doesn't know what end of a shovel you need to hold. There are days that I come home and the LAST thing I want is to talk to another person. It's worse when stuff I'm working on gets in the papers, I absolutely hate that. It's the worst thing about my job because journalists are universally incapable of writing down a single fact without making some kind of fantasy story to go along with it..... I hate that almost more than I can put in words. My wife, who is a natural communicator, doesn't always appreciate that need to switch off. She's gotten used to it, but she doesn't always appreciate it.

I dive, in part, for this reason. I love that you can be under water and having a shared experience without the need to talk the whole time. I need the "off switch". I don't mind being around people in the least but I like to be around people who can sit in silence for extended periods of time and not find that uncomfortable. I used to think that this made me awkward in social situations because I came off as being very introverted (and I am introverted to a point) but in actual fact I think the ones who have trouble being quiet are probably the awkward ones.....

So on a boat if someone were cramping my down time I would just say it. I wouldn't be rude as some people suggested. I would just say, "I don't want to blow you off but I really need some downtime right now and I would like to just go somewhere quiet for the next X amount of time".

That might sound pretty direct to some people but that's just putting it out there like it is. No beating around the bush. No blame, no aggression, just setting a boundary and being absolutely clear about it. And this works. 99 times out of 100 people accept this kind of thing without hesitation and without it escalating into a discussion. Moreover, if you come back to the same person again and strike up a conversation after you have had your downtime then the contact is usually on a more even footing.

Just a thought. Being assertive may strike some people as being difficult but in actual fact NOT BEING assertive gives you a lot more stress in the long run.

R..
 
I LOVE this thread. I've been fortunate in never really running into that guy on any boat (or shore) dive. Anyone remember the Seinfeld episode with the guy who got right up in your face to talk....?
There actually are people who do stuff like that. I think that's where they get all the ideas for sitcoms. Remember old Barney Miller......Yeah, there are characters like that in NYC, and probably everywhere.
 
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Well, okay....the diving was great but spending 5 consecutive days on a resort boat with an incessant close talker made me want to jump overboard with Andre the giant's weight belt around my neck and no BCD.

If I had to hear one more story about his dive vacation trip to wherever the hell it was, I swear I would still be swimming back home right now.

This is “Rick’s law of inverse verbiage”.
The more they talk.....the less they know.
 

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