You’ll Want This Guy Teaching
Your Loved Ones (Yeah, Right…)

People who know me also know that Ginnie Springs is just about my favorite spot on Earth. That’s why, when I see an act of unusually egregious stupidity committed there, I take particular offense.

One day, as I was approaching the spring, I heard the sound of an open water instructor debriefing his students. The instructor sounded agitated and rushed, plowing through the required information in record time. The instructor then abruptly stopped talking, turned and left his students in the water.

For those of you who don’t work with beginning scuba students, it’s considered among the gravest breaches of training standards and protocol to leave students unattended in the water — even if that water is only waist deep.

As soon as the instructor hit the top of the stairs, he made his way to his backpack, where — without even bothering to strip off his gear — he fumbled around anxiously until he found the object of his desire: a pack of smokes and a lighter.

Taking that first, deep puff, you could see relief wash over this turkey’s face. He’d obviously been having severe withdrawal pangs while in the water with students.

At this point, I wanted to go over and rip the guy’s head off. It wasn’t just that he’d abandoned his students — it was the example he was setting. Some of these students were children. If I was their father, this guy’d be dead by now.

As it was, I was so upset I just turned and left. In retrospect, I should have at least reported this turkey’s conduct to his training organization.

But what about when it’s one of your friends? »

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