OP
This one sent by a friend, Tim Aukshun, a few months ago. More for the dive pros, but entertaining read for all...
Another why me day!!
The wind is blowing around 19 knots per hour. The salt spray is stinging my eyes, the rain is running down my back under my wet suit, and the waves are splashing over the bow. The boat is rocking heavily; and then I realize we haven't left the dock yet. IT LOOKS LIKE ONE OF THOSE "WHY ME DAYS"!!
You never think about those why me days when the ocean is like glass, the sun shining and the sky so blue. Small waves gently tap your boat and the beautiful topless guys and gals walk by, their golden brown skin shining with suntan lotion and soft music coming from their boom boxes.
These are NOT why me days. NO sir, these are the days we became Scuba Instructors for. This is why we took up the career. This is what we deserve! This is the life we live for!
We don't live for those days when some diver from South Dakota puts his BCD on upside-down, or when the good looking person on board to do a deep dive cannot add two single digit numbers together without a calculator. Maybe it is one of those days when your Divemaster decided to get a little more sleep because of the late night revelry and just makes it to the boat as it pulls away. NO, NO, NO, these are NOT the days we became Scuba Instructors for.
Ever blow an o'ring just as the class was ready to descend? Or how about the high pressure hose that begins to leak on the new regulator you just paid enough money to finance a small country for a year? Is this going to be a why me day? You can bet on it!
I know we should be happy with the beautiful days we have on the ocean, days when the class doesn't make you miss your lunch, just because they saw a small shark behind their buddy; or when someone decides they can get the knife they dropped in 58 meters if they just go down and right back up quickly.
BUT days like that happen so seldom that we tend to just sit back and enjoy the moment because we know they won't last.,
Ever notice how people come to you when the water is like glass, the sun out, and the bosomy beautiful tanned girl with the string bikini is in the class and say' "Gee, I wish I had your job" So do I buddy!
I'd love to see them chase after a diver in a current that didn't hold the descent line; or handle a panic diver at 100 feet because he didn't watch his gauge and ran out of air.
To be fair, though, as I look around I see people stressed out every day from their jobs. The rent is due, kids need shoes, check hasn't arrived yet, can't get the car parts locally, and the peso exchange rate dropped again. I look at this day, and I figure, I'm not doing so badly.
I lead divers who insist they need ten kilos of weight when they are 5 feet 1 inch tall and weigh only 41 kilos soaking wet. I see divers jump into the water then try swim back to the boat to have their air turned on; and divers who secure their tank so loosely it falls out nearly killing the Divemaster. Ah just mere inconveniences.
All these events and many more like them, make up the Why me days. But then, I look around and see the people trying to have fun for a few hours on the water; trying to cram a whole lot of living into a few minutes under the water. I hear the excitement of discovering scuba. I see the enjoyment on their faces after their first open water dive. I am so proud when one of them I took on open water dive one becomes a Course Director and I think, "Why me"?
And I figure, "I'm just lucky, I guess."
Tim Aukshun
PADI Course Director 1982-present
Ocean Deep Diver Training Center
www.oceandeep.biz
Another why me day!!
The wind is blowing around 19 knots per hour. The salt spray is stinging my eyes, the rain is running down my back under my wet suit, and the waves are splashing over the bow. The boat is rocking heavily; and then I realize we haven't left the dock yet. IT LOOKS LIKE ONE OF THOSE "WHY ME DAYS"!!
You never think about those why me days when the ocean is like glass, the sun shining and the sky so blue. Small waves gently tap your boat and the beautiful topless guys and gals walk by, their golden brown skin shining with suntan lotion and soft music coming from their boom boxes.
These are NOT why me days. NO sir, these are the days we became Scuba Instructors for. This is why we took up the career. This is what we deserve! This is the life we live for!
We don't live for those days when some diver from South Dakota puts his BCD on upside-down, or when the good looking person on board to do a deep dive cannot add two single digit numbers together without a calculator. Maybe it is one of those days when your Divemaster decided to get a little more sleep because of the late night revelry and just makes it to the boat as it pulls away. NO, NO, NO, these are NOT the days we became Scuba Instructors for.
Ever blow an o'ring just as the class was ready to descend? Or how about the high pressure hose that begins to leak on the new regulator you just paid enough money to finance a small country for a year? Is this going to be a why me day? You can bet on it!
I know we should be happy with the beautiful days we have on the ocean, days when the class doesn't make you miss your lunch, just because they saw a small shark behind their buddy; or when someone decides they can get the knife they dropped in 58 meters if they just go down and right back up quickly.
BUT days like that happen so seldom that we tend to just sit back and enjoy the moment because we know they won't last.,
Ever notice how people come to you when the water is like glass, the sun out, and the bosomy beautiful tanned girl with the string bikini is in the class and say' "Gee, I wish I had your job" So do I buddy!
I'd love to see them chase after a diver in a current that didn't hold the descent line; or handle a panic diver at 100 feet because he didn't watch his gauge and ran out of air.
To be fair, though, as I look around I see people stressed out every day from their jobs. The rent is due, kids need shoes, check hasn't arrived yet, can't get the car parts locally, and the peso exchange rate dropped again. I look at this day, and I figure, I'm not doing so badly.
I lead divers who insist they need ten kilos of weight when they are 5 feet 1 inch tall and weigh only 41 kilos soaking wet. I see divers jump into the water then try swim back to the boat to have their air turned on; and divers who secure their tank so loosely it falls out nearly killing the Divemaster. Ah just mere inconveniences.
All these events and many more like them, make up the Why me days. But then, I look around and see the people trying to have fun for a few hours on the water; trying to cram a whole lot of living into a few minutes under the water. I hear the excitement of discovering scuba. I see the enjoyment on their faces after their first open water dive. I am so proud when one of them I took on open water dive one becomes a Course Director and I think, "Why me"?
And I figure, "I'm just lucky, I guess."
Tim Aukshun
PADI Course Director 1982-present
Ocean Deep Diver Training Center
www.oceandeep.biz
and a bad dive is always offset by a nice walk home with the sunset on the background and the feel of sand between your toes..
