Is there a "guarantee" that the instructor who took the IE exam 10 years ago and was issued a ICS number 10 years ago has instructed in the last year? Again, the guy wanting me to show him my skills has a card issued by the same agency I do. If my C card is not-so-valid, then ALL C cards are not-so-valid.
We have several students going thru the V.A. program at the dive shop right now to become instrucotrs. They have to get their minimum dives, so they are cramming them all in as fast as they can. Yeah I have a lot of confidence in an "instructor" who does four dives per day in the 20 foot water beside the bridge for a month to get his required 100 dives, then demands I show him my 19 years worth of wreck diving skills for the privilege of diving with him. In the Army, there's a 2nd Lieutenant that comes along just out of OCS every now and then who wants to make sure the First Sgt knows he outranks him. The result is always the same and it's fun to watch.
PADI and the recreational dive industry have but one goal on their mind: To get the money out of your pocket.
And we don't have mandatory "driving schools" in the U.S. like you guys do in Europe. I go to the DMV and take a written test, and I take a very brief hands-on driving test around the block, and if I pass both, I get a license. In fact, The State of North Carolina gives you a cheat book to study with all the answers in it and a "practice test". LOL
And taking a "Gentle drive around the parking lot" damned sure doesn't mean I'm ready for the 5pm traffic on the Durham Freeway coming out of Raleigh on a weekday. Not anymore than requiring a neurosurgeon to demonstrate he can give a flu shot proves he's ready to do brain stem surgery.
When does that PADI C card become "permanent and forever"? When you go from RD to DM? When you go to OW Instructor? AOW Instructor? DEMP Instructor? Since you claim my PADI MSD C card is just a novelty, what PADI level do I need to get before the PADI card moves from the novelty stage to the "I'm Scuba God" stage? Is it when I take the IE exam or am issued an IDCS number?
Does these new graduates who did 4 fifteen minute dives under the bridge in 20 feet of water count for more experience than my 1 dive to 120 feet on a wreck for 30 minutes? They can say they have four dives and I only have one, does that make them a more qualified diver?