To see ourselves as others see us...

[David Wilson]

You may know that John Steinbeck borrowed the title of his famous story 'Of Mice and Men' from Scotland's national poet Robert Burns. Another poem by Burns contains the lines 'O wad some Power the giftie gie us / To see oursels as ithers see us!', which means 'Oh would some Power give us the gift to see ourselves as others see us.' Well here's your opportunity: I have just chanced upon a French online diving magazine article discussing what the national characteristics of Japanese, American, Swiss, Italian, Belgian, Spanish and French divers are. I have spent the last hour translating what the French article-writer said about American divers; sadly, he never got round to British divers. Here is what he wrote:

AMERICAN DIVERS
Respectful and overtrained


PROFILE

There is no single profile for US divers, there are at least two:


- Recreational divers, trained and certified to Recreational Scuba Training Council standards, aiming at diving within no-decompression limits;


- Athletic and technical divers who learned their craft with specialised agencies and may never have gone through a recreational phase.


American divers have a higher social status and are well equipped.


EXPECTATIONS

Recreational divers’ targets of choice are warm waters, photography and diving trips to English-speaking (Cayman, Florida, Bahamas) or nearby destinations (Mexico, for example). On the other hand, Cenotes, Rocky Mountain lakes and multiple-activity areas are popular with technical divers. They dream a little about Europe but it is too far away for most of them.


PLUSES

American divers are very obedient during training. They proceed to carry out everything they have learnt without making any attempt to depart from the rules in any systematic way.


MINUSES

American divers are by nature suspicious: everything must be transparent and above all consistent with their ideas about diving. Overtrained, they struggle to adapt.


NOTE BY JOËL GALLIEN, director of the French branch of the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers who did all his Tech Diving training in the USA: ‘American recreational divers focus on diving within no-decompression limits. Instead of increasing their commitment, they would rather use Nitrox to push no-decompression limits. Most beginners are equipped from head to foot before they even start, which shows how wealthy they are. American divers sometimes stick to what they believe to be true, which can lead to hazardous situations when they are guests in a French diving centre. Please note that air-fill facilities in the USA are frequently fully self-service, which is unthinkable today in France.’

If you want to read the original article in French, including what it says about other nationalities, follow this link: Plongeurs de tous pays, qui êtes-vous ? - Divosea by Plongeurs International. Of course, the author has created stereotypes to entertain as well as inform, but is there even the slightest ring of truth in what he has written as an outside observer on the American diver at home and abroad?

 

[TMHeimer]

I haven't been in a U.S. shop that is self service air fills (including our in NS). Never heard of it--unless of course you are an employee who knows how.

 

[Diver0001]

We have self-service fills in the Netherlands. They're filling panels outside of shops that are attached to the shop's buffers. There are even one or two that are built into sea containers. 24x7 air. Love it.

 

[KevinNM]

There is a trimix self-service one in cave country. It's enormous, with dozens of tanks in a series of cascades.

But in multiple places I've done everything up to turning on the actual gas flow, letting an employee do that.

 

[boulderjohn]

I know the self-service shop of which Kevin speaks, but the self-service aspect of it has some controversy that not many know about. I can't think of a true self service shop anywhere, with the exception that if a shop knows you well it will let you do a lot of things that will not be allowed for others.

I also find the idea that most beginners are equipped from head to foot from the start because of their immense wealth absolutely laughable. I live in an affluent area, and the shops that are here can only wish that there was something like that going on. I cannot remember a time that I had a student in a class who had already purchased anything more then Mask, fins, and snorkel.

 

[boulderjohn]

The comment that Rocky Mountain lakes are popular with technical divers is both laughable and illuminating. I am sure that whoever wrote this is basing it on one experience in one place, and I can probably name the place.

If you go to the Rocky Mountain region in the ScubaBoard regional forums and search for discussions of Rocky Mountain sites for technical diving, you will not find much. I don't know of any good site in the northern states (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming). They may exist, but no one talks about any at all. I am pretty sure there is nothing in Utah that is especially good for technical diving. The only two such lakes I know of in Colorado are at 10,000 feet and 11,400 feet, are only really available in the summer, and I know one tech instructor who dives one of them only. I have been to each of them once in my life, and I have no plans to go back.

That brings us to New Mexico, which has one suitable site. It's a good one, but it does not get a lot of traffic. I go there with students maybe 6-7 times a year, and I have only encountered other divers there a handful of times over the years. Two weekends ago there was a miracle--several groups were there at once, with maybe 15 divers total, including my students. I jokingly said that my students were getting to meet nearly every tech diver in the Rocky Mountain region that weekend, and others started to name the ones who was missing that would have made it complete. They did not come up with many names.

So, based on that, I assume this person has had a couple of experiences with a couple Americans and then branded us all by those couple of experiences.

 

[boulderjohn]

In the spirit of what I just posted, perhaps I should characterize French divers by my only experience.

I actually did not experience it first hand--the actual experience was one of our students and our shop's management . That student had completed his confined water dives with us and then headed off to the Caribbean with his referral. For those who have not seen the form, it has a place for the referring instructor to check off, date, initial, ind give the instructor number for every one of the 5 academic units and every one of the 5 pool sessions. You also need to sign, date, and provide your instructor number for the full pool sessions and the full academic sessions. It's a whole lot of signing, especially with a big class. Fortunately, the instructions clearly state that if the same instructor did all the pool sessions or all the academic sessions, the only thing that was needed was the signature, date, and instructor number at the end of the section. We had called PADI to confirm that, and that understanding was affirmed. It saved a lot of time.

Well, our student with the referral called from the Caribbean to tell us that the instructor/shop there was not accepting the referral because it did not have all the initials, instructor numbers, (etc.) on every one of the pool and academic sessions. Our management talked to the instructor, but he would not budge. We contacted PADI, and they contacted the shop to tell them that what we had done was acceptable. Sorry, he said. The island on which he lived was French, and the shop was French-owned, so he was not governed by PADI Americas. He was governed by PADI Europe. He didn't give a damn what PADI Americas said about its policies. We could go suck eggs.

I don't know if PADI Europe was ever contacted, but the student ended up doing all the referral work over again on the island--and paying for it, of course. Our shop instructed us to ignore the official instructions from then on and put in every blessed initial and every blessed instructor number and every blessed date--just in case one of our future students ended up taking the referral to a French resort.

Of course, I would not judge an entire nation by one incident.

 

[Diver0001]

I know the self-service shop of which Kevin speaks, but the self-service aspect of it has some controversy that not many know about. I can't think of a true self service shop anywhere, with the exception that if a shop knows you well it will let you do a lot of things that will not be allowed for others.

I also find the idea that most beginners are equipped from head to foot from the start because of their immense wealth absolutely laughable. I live in an affluent area, and the shops that are here can only wish that there was something like that going on. I cannot remember a time that I had a student in a class who had already purchased anything more then Mask, fins, and snorkel.

It's a satirical piece, John. You should read what they say about the other nationalities, including their own. It's actually quite humorous.

On a side-bar, I don't see many students who buy a full set of gear early on either. I do make some suggestions, however. Those suggestions not no include to buy a full set of gear right away.

R..

 

[Doby45]

I LOVE the full self-service shop that is there in cave country (North Florida). One of the nicest guys I know owns the place and he is retired LEO, so much respect. It boggled my mind at the amount of equipment (high end) that he had sitting out just so people could help themselves and get their dives done.

 

[Steve_C]

At least diving in the US we have to only check the tide tables and not also the strike tables for air, train, taxi, bus, fire, police, ......