No Joke

[scubafanatic]

Quarantining the sufferer may work but I prefer treating the illness. Each to their own, like I said these are all valid feelings but there are several ways to deal with this. Those involved need to decide what to pursue.

Also, if you ban someone from 99 boats, someone may still get hurt on the 100th boat. By fixing the individual, ALL boats are now safe from this person. Granted, not all efforts may be successful but I am willing to try, and it seems Trace and his friend are of the same opinion.

In theory I'm OK with your preference to 'rehab', if that were in a controlled environment, by trained/qualified people but it's wrong to expose innocent divers to this person though, so I'm curious what level/method of public disclosure would you employ to make this work ?

 

[Trace Malinowski]

I think there was the implication the bans were related to the unsafe behavior, otherwise why even mention the other bans if they don't relate to the issue you experienced ? Now that we're on page 10 of this thread is it clarified to have been a ban based on financial matters. Never the less, revealing banning for multiple different reasons really doesn't make things better, he's a problem child on multiple dimensions ! In emergency medical triage he would be cast off as beyond saving, not worth the trouble, and just siphoning off resources better used on other folks.

I mentioned the banning to indicate for one reason or another he is a problem child. You seem prettty sure of your diagnosis having never met him. He's been a regular on my buddy's boat. I did 4 dives with him. I wouldn't write him off based upon my experience with people for 50 years.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

No, Trace.

I for one am glad you posted. There will always be differences of opinion, it's only through discussions like these that those who are undecided can crystallise their feelings and figure out how they would like to act going forward.

The Internet is a bell curve with extreme views on every side. There are 99 posts on here now and 2500+ views. Like with most threads here, the benefit is not for the majority of posters but the silent majority of viewers who are learning.

No worries, Brendon. @Superlyte27 loves me. He'll gladly break my nose.

 

[RainPilot]

In theory I'm OK with your preference to 'rehab', if that were in a controlled environment, it's wrong to expose innocent divers to this person though, so I'm curious what level/method of public disclosure would you employ to make this work ?

Fair question. Lets look at the two scenarios:

1. Ban diver. You never see him again, he is now someone else's problem. Is there any kind of disclosure or method for the next boat to know what he did etc? Genuine question, I am not aware of any "blacklist" type information sharing?
2. Teach diver. He remains on your boat since he has been treated humanely, and you are in a position to mentor him in a variety of ways if needed. I really doubt that he would repeat this behaviour if he genuinely did not realise the implications, if he does then it is a psychological issue and he should not be diving at all. (Good) Captains generally keep one eye on all new / unknown divers anyway, it is no more risky than some brand new customer who may be the same as our offender but is unknown.

 

[CT-Rich]

By the way, turns out the diver has been kicked out of other shops/ops. Rather than just kick him off the boat, I'm betting the captain is going to put the time, patience, and effort into helping him grow up rather than just let him become someone else's problem.

If he has been booted from other shops and boats, he had his opportunity to learn and grow. Now he can learn to shore dive solo. If he didn’t learn after the first ban, he not going to learn.

 

[ReefGuy]

A prankster worth their salt could easily turn off your air after you'd done your pre entry check off, which would make you one of those 'poor' divers who really don't deserve to live anyway, poor divers deserve bad things to happen to them, right ?

If someone turns off your air while your tank is on your back and you don't notice, you don't need to be diving. You lack the self awareness you need to cross the street, let alone scuba dive. Tell me how you can properly BWRAF when you are not WEARING your gear? Once your check is complete, you should be entering the water, not walking away from your gear.

If you fail to take reasonable precautions that you have been instructed to take (and how to do them properly) in your open water class, then yes, you are responsible for what happens. It's just a life principle. I know that people get lazy, but who's fault is that? This should be a reminder to not be lazy and do your proper pre-entry checks.

 

[Saniflush]

@Superlyte27

Pete, next time I even think about posting something. Beat the sh*t out of me. I'll thank you.

@Trace Malinowski I don't know you from Adam's house cat but I do know that this thread has been (like many others on this board) valuable to many of us who like to learn. Sometimes the learning is about diving and sometimes the learning is how to handle situations with people. Both are important to me and I thank you for posting about it and the discussion that has ensued.

 

[ofg-1]

You are right, turning off your air is no joke. Putting a cockroach in your mouthpiece, now that's a joke. Filling your booties with dog poop, a joke. Live crab in your drysuit pocket, joke. Snake in your gear bag, if non poisonous, a joke, if poisonous, you need new dive partners.

 

[EireDiver606]

Dude it's not a "fluctuation myth" and duh of course the spg needle won't fluctuate if the valve is full open, that's the whole POINT of doing it. If the valve is closed, the spg needle will drop when the diver takes a breath off their regulator during the predive check. That's how you confirm your valve is in fact, OPEN. It's a REALLY simple concept.

If it’s a REALLY simple concept, why don’t you MAKE SURE your valves are open full way before depending on spg to move.

 

[Superlyte27]

I agree with Wookie.

It’s kind of like adding weight to the top of a side mount har

You are right, turning off your air is no joke. Putting a cockroach in your mouthpiece, now that's a joke. Filling your booties with dog poop, a joke. Live crab in your drysuit pocket, joke. Snake in your gear bag, if non poisonous, a joke, if poisonous, you need new dive partners.

I would rather you turn off my air than any of those things, lol