We all started out as O/W students

[tyesai]

You know I am sure a lot wont like this answer but from what I have observed the worst people (divers) I see in shops and dive boats are other DM"s and Instructors as well as cave and tech divers. It seems the more "education" one has the less tolerant they are to other divers.

WTF makes you better then me?????? You were once an OW student but now O my god roll out the red carpet we have a tech diver coming through.

Eehhh, snobbery and the superior attitude is in just about every hobby I have or had.
Gun snobs, guitar snobs, audio visual snobs, in poker it is ego's ect; ect; The only hobby I don't remember division in is RC airplanes?????????? I don't know.

Some people just take things more serious than others, nothing wrong with that. Never been around a tech diver, but it would seem only natural that someone doing deco dives or caves ect; ect; is going to be a fairly serious person when it comes to diving and seriousness can rub off as being a butthole.

Me, I'll shoot whatever gun you hand me and love it, I play a Peavy bass, I buy up second hand stereo equipment from the guys that are upgrading, play micro stake poker, and just want to get wet. At this point I'll dive in the pool if that is were you wanna go.

 

[SelkieDVM]

It can only get to you if you let it. You're the only one in control of your own thoughts. If you don't like the way you feel about something, change your mind. Works for me anyway. As others have said, what people portray to the world is more a reflection of their own character than anything else.

 

[DixieDolphin]

As a woman working in a seriously male-dominated industry myself (I work in IT), I deal with a varient of this behavior all the time. It doesn't help that my physique apparently makes me look underage, even though I'm pushing 30 and dress far more professionally than most of the grungy programmer guys in our office.

Despite the fact that I have years and years of experience in this field, I constantly have users treat me as if I couldn't possibly fix their computer. Often times, they'll walk right past me to speak to my male coworker instead. And users whom I deal with remotely constantly assume that I am male, asking to speak to "Edward" when I answer the phone (a bastardization of my last name, Edwards). I won't even start in on the fact that I discovered I make 25% less than my male coworkers, ugh.

I've dealt with some of this attitude in diving, too. There are a few shops in town that I will not give my business to because of the condescending, chauvinist attitude I encountered upon first walking in. I recall at one dive shop, I was ignored for twenty minutes while I waited patiently at the counter--there were no other customers in the shop--and when the guy finally DID saunter over, he acted as if I had no business even getting in a swimming pool, much less renting a tank from him. But for the most part, I have been fortunate to find a great dive shop to give my business and good divers to dive with--people who don't harbor those sort of prejudices.

As for the rest, I just try to ignore the jerks of this world. It is irritating that we women still have to deal with this garbage, but change comes slowly to society.

 

[Diver0001]

Whether male or female how you present yourself is usually a good barometer of how you will be treated. .

I didn't read past the first few posts but I thought I'd jump in with an opinion anyway.

To me... once we're under water your gender or "charm" (or lack thereof) above water doesn't matter one little bit to me. As soon as my hair is wet we're diving and you're a diver and how you conduct yourself is the only thing that counts. You could be a 5-alarm air-head (or 5-alarm jerk) on the surface but if you're calm cool, collected and focused on the team under water then you're the kind of buddy for me..... I don't care what colour your flippers are.

@ Jim (why I quoted your post).... you're looking good, mate, assuming that's a recent picture. You look TONNES better than you did when your wife was sick. I hope you don't mind me saying.

.... and for some reason your students are much better looking than mine are....

For some strange reason that I don't understand, the young pups in our shop -- who control the planning -- get the best looking students and I get (at my age) the ones with "issues" or who need a butt tuck.

R..

 

[Diver0001]

BTW, JAX... you need to change your avatar... I haven't been able to get through reading a single thing you've said since you changed it to the "OMGTODIEFOR" picture.

R..

 

[stargost]

This is a sport originally built on machismo, and an industry that is techno-saavy. .

It is unfortunately true for many sports, with few exceptions like synchronize swimming where I haven't met any males bragging about how good there are

Scuba is an interesting case, as at first you believe it would be much more balanced as women are mostly better divers and buddy (and for sure much better breathers !) . for one reason they dont care about proving anything or talking about boring tekky crap.
But eventually, you get to realize the statement above is sadly very true, whether on real diving life, internet, or in dive shops.

Having say that, the worse A$$ H diver and divemaster I got to meet was ... a woman - showing a very male-ish/bragging attitude, thinking she was the best (being young and with several hundreds of dives).
Maybe she was defensive after some bad experiences like the OP.

 

[irishsquid]

..guitar snobs, ...I play a Peavy bass,

If it's a DynaBass, I'm green with envy!!!! I am a SNOB! Best sounding/playing bass Peavy ever made.

 

[Hank49]

I was once a dribbling, mud-eating infant also. Does that mean I should show equal respect to a toddler, in terms of experience, education and ability?

Yes, it does. Why wouldn't you?

 

[Crush]

Brilliant topic, MClark12!

I believe that knowing is the largest impediment to learning.

For this reason, when I am traveling alone and end up on a boat dive, I try to choose the quiet person to be my insta-buddy. The way I see it, either they are a really good diver that doesn't need to brag, or they are a not-so-good diver, but at least they don't think that they know everything.

Frequently males "talk" a better dive than do females, even if that male is an inferior diver.

Put another way, if I meet you on a boat, I will likely ask you to be my buddy over some testosterone-oozing braggart.

Also, just remember that when someone resorts to criticizing your lack of diver experience it frequently means that you beat that person intellectually, and they are now resorting to an appeal to authority.

Cheers.

 

[Brian Sharpe]

Eehhh, snobbery and the superior attitude is in just about every hobby I have or had.
Gun snobs, guitar snobs, audio visual snobs, in poker it is ego's ect; ect; ....
Me, I'll shoot whatever gun you hand me and love it, I play a Peavy bass.......

What's wrong with Peavey basses? (Nothing unless you're hanging out at TalkBass.com) One of my favourites is my very affordable Carvin.:focus: