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Hi Katherine V. Irvine

On Mon, 20 Jul 1998 06:14:45 -0400, you wrote:

> Steve, how rude is three deaths in one week? How rude is fifteen dead
> instructors in eighteen months. How rude is the continuous uniterrupted
> flow of misinfomration, stupidity, and dangerous practices that are
> getting these people killed?=20

I cannot argue against you here, in these precise circumstances... and =
would
not dream of it.

There's no way I could even suggest that there is anything, anything at =
all
that I can do about these needless deaths, apart from feel deeply for =
those
who's loved ones are lost under ridiculously tragic circumstances and I'm
thinking about Alan Pelstrings' partner Jane here.

Oh crumbs, its difficult for me to express myself without resorting to
something resembling an expression of personal animosity, which is the =
last
thing I want to do (although I may have already done this in my first
post).... perhaps now I'm experiencing a very little of the frustration I
realise you must feel given your deeper involvement in all of this.

There are a very few people who can actively and positively act to =
redress
the training inadequacies the even I recognise exist at the moment. What =
I
would dearly love is for some forum to be established where mutual
chin-punching is put to one side and change is made for the better.


> Like you say, you are new, and you do not know that this is all
> emamating from a few really, really stupid people who are able to
> influence our whole sport.

This I am aware of but from my distanced perspective it also seems that
there is a stand-off between those who have the need for change and those
who have the thoughts and skills/practices needed to redress the
deficiencies that most accept are there.
=20
> You go do a few recoveries, you go to court to get people declared dead
> while their wives sit their crying, you talk to the families of the
> victims, the fathers of the dead sons with a promising full life ahead
> of them, you ride around on a boat all day with the dead bodies and the
> cops, you talk to the Coast Guard, etc,

This is an experience I would never want to have. Perhaps its because of
that that I'm asking in my own way that another means of instigating =
change
be found; after all there's (always) more than one way to skin a rabbit).

> and then you can kiss my ass.

Er, no, do mind if I pass on that one ;-)

> It is the atittute of tolerance of dive shop monkeeism - the act of
> learning a dangerous sport from the equivalent of a roofer, that will
> get clowns like you killed. This is a serious sport, and it is being
> taught by primates who could not make a good batch of fries or a Double
> Whopper without screwing it up.=20

I agree with your sentiment here, well, up to the point about me being a
clown...

I mentioned earlier that I am relatively new to diving, this also means =
that
in my own diving circle I am a newcomer and yet I see within that those
self, same deficiencies you describe. I am also trying to pass on what I =
can
in terms of improving practices to my new-found circle of diving friends.
Most of those changes/ideas I have gleaned from this list and none of =
which
anyone has argued against... However, since I am a newcomer, no-one will
listen to me if I stand up and beat my chest, so I approach things a =
little
more diplomatically, I have no choice.
=20
> There is nothing new in any of this, except that fifty years of polite
> by the likes of Jaques Cousteau and many others has not worked nearly =
as
> well as publicly humiliting the usual suspects. Now they are aftraid to
> screw up, since their insurance agents are wathing closely. Anyway to
> slow these mongoloids down is fine with me.

But precisely because of the way they have been forced to change, i.e. by
humiliation, they are also most resistant to acknowledging their _real_
deficiencies and publicly seeking change, no?





Steve...
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