My Unofficial ?Love Your Instructor? Day. ? Scuba Dive Chat

The scuba community lost a huge friend this week.? Rick, a former co-worker of mine and a fellow scuba instructor passed away earlier this week.? While not famous, and nobody you?d recognize if you didn?t know him already, Rick?s knowledge and kindness touched hundreds, if not thousands of divers

Unofficial Love Your Instructor Day

everywhere he?d meet them.? Even though he had probably forgotten more about scuba than most dive clubs can collectively claim they know of the sport you?d not have known him to possess the experience and information because he was never?the type of person who needed another person to be impressed by him.?? Anybody who has been involved with scuba for any length of time can attest?to how rare and refreshing a trait that is among divers.

Rick?s knowledge of scuba equipment, how it worked, how to use it safely?and how to service it far exceeded even my own.? And even though, at one point in our careers it was my task to run technician seminars and certifications that he attended, never once did he ever give an air of ?snobbiness? or superiority.? One time in Orlando, Florida at the DEMA show he was there with nothing else to do, as his wife had to be at the show all week.? He offered to be my helper for 3 days of seminars and spent his time drifting about the room?assisting new technicians or offering advice?never once getting bored or complaining, even though in a perfect world it would have been Rick imparting his wisdom and me soaking it in.

Rick was the kind of guy in which you never saw anything but a smile on his

Rick

face.? Whether he was at work dealing with a challenging piece of gear, or at the beach in his drysuit with his steel cylinders all twinned up getting set for a very long dive on a distant off shore reef you?d never see anything but the twinkle in his eye and grin on his face.? Even when his wife passed away a few years ago, and you could sense how badly he was hurting inside, never once would he let you see anything but that smile.? Something I will forever respect about him, knowing a lot about the crummy cards it seems like he was so often dealt throughout his life.

Rick was a guy I?m proud to have known.? I?ll always have fond thoughts of our comparisons of similar places we?d visited and our opinions of some of the old scuba gear we?d seen over the years and how it changed.? And even though he wasn?t MY instructor, per se, I learned as much about scuba from Rick as any scuba instructor I?ve ever had.? Although I didn?t spend as much time around Rick the past few years as I?d have liked, I consider myself very fortunate indeed to have known him.? My only regret now is that I?ll never get the chance to give him my appreciation for all that he did teach me over the course of the past 8-10 years.

So, this brings me to my point.? How many of you out there are still in regular contact with your scuba instructor either as a friend away from scuba or as a dive buddy?? Of those of you who are, how many of you have ever taken that moment to show your appreciation for what they?ve taught you.? I?m not talking your scuba class or course.? You paid them for that and trust me, every instructor appreciates that.?? But more the tips and tricks that make the sport fun.? The kind of thing they themselves figured out over years of practice or, perhaps more likely, had been taugh long before by their own instructor.? If you haven?t, give it some thought.? Before it?s too late.? Because without people like Rick in our sport scuba just isn?t as fun and enjoyable as it should be.

Source: http://www.divechat.com/2012/02/18/love-your-instructor-day/

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