PADI a pain?!?

[MikeFerrara]

BTW, do they still send you letters telling you it's annual fee time after all these years?

Just the other day my wife told me that "special offer" to be reinstated as a PADI instructor came in the mail. I didn't read it so I don't know the details.

They have not forgotten me.

 

[Scuba_Steve]

Just the other day my wife told me that "special offer" to be reinstated as a PADI instructor came in the mail. I didn't read it so I don't know the details.

They have not forgotten me.

LOL

I KNEW they would still be sending it to you.....roflmao

Irony is such a beautiful thing.

 

[Walter]

I have been told not to tell "Discover" people about their inflater button. Did anybody hear that?

I can't remember where I read it, but there is (was?) a law suit on that very issue. My memory isn't very clear on it, but I seem to remember a Discover SCUBA student shooting to the surface. I believe his instructor tried to prevent it. I think they were both hit by a boat and one died, they other was seriously injured. I could be wrong, but I think it happened in Hawaii. I remember being shocked that anyone would have such a dangerous standard.

You take every opportunity to let everyone hear your opinion about how evil PADI is as well. I'm sure the intelligent folks here at SB understand that you bear malice toward PADI and as such your opinions concerning them should be taken lightly.

I read the first post before anyone had replied. I decided to let it pass and didn't respond. A missed opportunity. Then I read it again when there were 12 replies, many of them way off base. I decided to let yet another opportunity pass me by. Then in post 24 Mike says, "I am pretty open about my dislike for PADI." Do you focus on that? No. You ignore it. In post 31 mislav makes what I believe to be a completely misleading statement, but I let it go, waiting for someone else to address the point. No one did, so in post 53, I finally participate in this thread by answering that point. In the same post, I responded to another misleading statement in a way that did finally give part of my opinion about PADI. Later in the thread, I made the statement that set you off. Mike responded by saying PADI's standards are not short of criminal, they are criminal. It looks to me as if I'm not the one with the axe to grind, you are. You can't truly find fault with my position, so you turn it into a personal attack instead. I'm perfectly happy with staying with a discussion of actual standards. Think you can handle it? Do I bear malice towards PADI? Of course not. Do I like them? Of course not. Why don't I like them? Because their standards make it extremely difficult for most people to get adequate dive training. If they'd raise their standards, I'd become a PADI supporter. Until they do, I'll point out their shortcomings.

 

[TheHobster]

Moreover, there is the usual parochial biases (Pitt fans hate Penn State and WVU, but there is no rational basis for it).

My whole family graduated from Penn State, and I from Arizona - so the two hook up in the Kickoff Classic a few years ago - I can get tix, they can't - so like a fool I buy a dozen tix and bring ythe whole family - of course tailgating starts at essentially O-dark thirty so we leave my sis in Mechanicsburg in time to get there - after tailgating, I am the only one in red and blue and I get booed as I walk to the stadium!!!!

I must admit no Y, NAUI etc instructor has ever booed me

 

[Mark_J]

Why? I'm not sure that I share that view.

I can give you many reasons but here are a few;

1) Most divers have a love for marine life and the reefs/wrecks/caves they explore, having more people advocating conservation in these areas is quite positive.

2) With a larger market comes more manufacturer competition, prices get lower and quality and innovation have the potential to increase.

3) More divers means more revenue for dive boats, and companies to put together trips at better prices.

4) More LDS's competing for your business.

5) More need for Instructors, LDS's can be more particular about who they hire to teach as there would be more to choose from. This could translate to a higher level of quality as it relates to training.

 

[Scuba_Steve]

Actually Mark, all I really see are more divers that can't dive trashing the vis, reefs, wrecks and caves.......

I don't think that there's anything positive about it at all. I'd be happier with fewer divers myself, if they continue to be processed like they are currently.

 

[Mark_J]

Actually Mark, all I really see are more divers that can't dive trashing the vis, reefs, wrecks and caves.......

I don't think that there's anything positive about it at all. I'd be happier with fewer divers myself, if they continue to be processed like they are currently.

Our experiences differ greatly then Steve, many of the new divers I am in direct contact with genuinely love what they are learning and I believe they will be an asset for our sport not a liability.

 

[Scuba_Steve]

Oh i believe many love what they're doing, I just think they don't KNOW what they're doing.

Whether they ever become an asset or not is unknown, but generally most are nothing but a huge liability to someone.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Reading back through the below quoted post, I'm not sure I was as clear as I could have been...plenty wordy as usual but maybe not so clear. Let me try again and I hope I don't just muddle it up more.

My next try...While I do think I understand the point that Steve was trying to make, PADI standards are sold (not cheap either) to PADI pros. PADI pros are, in theory, trained in those standards and their interpretation/intent.

I'm not doing any better here am I? Give me a sec... I think I have it!...The intent of this post was NOT to say "yes Steve Mislav is a dmmy because he doesn't understand or agree". The intent was to say that "If we make an assertion we should do our best to provide support for that assertion" yes? The idea is to inform others of our point of view and NOT to insult them with our point of view.

I don't want to speak for Steve but I don't think his intent is very different from mine. Steve can correct me if I'm wrong. If I didn't view Scuba Board as a friendly environment and you folks as friends (cyber friends maybe, but friends), I just wouldn't say anything.

I don't think he'll get it Mike. He doesn't know enough about the ciriculuum to understand what you're getting at.

Said in reference to Mislav.

Understood. However, some of us are making the assertion that there is a problem with dive training in general and PADI training specifically. We do this in front of an awful lot of PADI trained divers who don't want to hear that their training sucked.

While we may not be completely successful in illustrating the exact nature and extent of our assertions, I don't think it's a wast of time to try to present our reasons for those opinions. It's unlikely that anyone will gain a complete understanding of the standards from a few quotes here and there but it could be enough to get some people thinking. Whether they know it or not, they baught into those standards when they puchased their card. Whether they ultimately agree with you and me or not, it is in their best interest to attempt to understand what we are putting in front of them. At least here, they have a choice.

What are we trying to do? I'm just trying to provide information that divers usually don't have access to for the purpose of giving them choices that they don't usually have or to encourage them to excersize those choices. I don't care anything about saving the industry or helping PADI by telling them how to teach diving. I tried that when I was a card carrying PADI instructor.

I'm just trying to give other divers a "heads up" just because I can.

 

[Mark_J]

Oh i believe many love what they're doing, I just think they don't KNOW what they're doing.

The same could be said about car drivers but I think I'd rather deal with traffic than go back to horses...