Well Jagfish asked if I had already decided what to do or more precisely asked what direction I was leaning in now.
Someone earlier said that maybe I was just mad that I didn't get to go on any of the expensive trips. That is certainly not the case. I am mad that the instructor of the DiveCon class I paid a lot of money for has said that I need to go on a lot more trips before I finish my certification. (I haven't decided whether or not to pay the insurance and finish my cert. to become a bona fide dive professional, I am already done with the class). If I hadn't paid for the stupid classes that I have taken to this point, if I hadn't spent the huge amounts of money on gear, I might actually have some money to take trips.
I guess part of the problem is what you might think that the LDS is supposed to be. I want a place where there is a personal relationship. Is this mixing business with pleasure? Of course, but in my opinion any business dealing with diving is mixing business with pleasure. My LDS is supposed to be a place of support, camaraderie, equipment, information, education, and yes even personal relationships. My LDS is not living up to these expectations and I believe I can probably find them met somewhere else. I mean here is the thing, I like to dive but I don't have to do it in a way that makes them any profit at all. In return for my money and loyalty I think I do deserve to have at least most of my expectations met. (Read Tom Morris "If Aristotle Ran General Motors".) What are the reasons keeping me there? Most of the instructors are great people, they have trained me, helped me select equipment, answered questions, and been travel buddies. There are other shop customers who I have come to know whom I have shared classes with, whom I have traveled with, and whom I consider my friends. Since I don't live in the same city as these people the dive shop is how we maintain our relationships. I have depended on my dive shop to maintain the equipment I have bought there, before I started learning to maintain my own. Guess where I have learned to maintain my equipment? You got it, my LDS.
I think an LDS is where new divers should be able to come and learn about our SCUBA world. I think they should feel comfortable, not intimidated, encouraged and supported. The LDS is the last place that a diver should encounter the arrogant sort of experienced diver attitude that we see on the board all the time.
In some ways my LDS still does some of these things, but its not meeting my needs. Can I arrange my own dive trips? Of course, but they aren't with a group of people I already know. There really isn't much of a club opportunity here, I live in Mississippi, most people won't put up the shotgun and park the 4 wheel drive long enough to learn to dive. There aren't many divers.
One of my biggest concerns is my LDS is where all of my training has been. I originally started looking forward to the day when I would be a part of the team I so admired. These are people that I have trusted. I have never went in looking for the best price on gear, I paid their price because I was buying more than the gear. I was trying to support a shop that was everything it should be.
Maybe I am a bit idealistic, but how else will we continue this sport. The heart of diving is in the local dive shop. Diving is an expensive and consumerist driven sport. Our dive shops are on the front line, in the yellow pages there isn't an SSI listing or PADI listing instead there is a dive shop listed. When the interested non diver gets information who do they get it from? Sometimes people have a diving friend but generally most divers aren't instructors, so where do we take them? The LDS to talk to our instructor. Get my point?
My LDS is the only dive shop for probably 150 miles in any direction. (Give or take). What about the non diving community, who will represent diving to them in this area?
Okay enough of all of that. My preference is that my dive shop would meet my expectations and meet my needs as well as the needs of the community as a whole. But I am so tired of it that I am ready to find another shop that does meet my needs. It is disappointing and somewhat heart-wrenching to think about. This has been my diving home for over five years. But maybe it is time to move.
