As you may or may not know, I started my own SCUBA ‘thing’ a couple years ago. While there were many reasons behind starting my shop, the nitty-gritty of it was that the place I was “working”1 for had a nasty habit of bending, nay, even breaking the training guidelines. It was unsafe for everyone involved. So I got out and went full-time into my own gig. Trust me when I say, none of it has been easy. But aside from the rigmarole of starting yet another business, I was leaving a place I had ‘grown up’ in. I started my SCUBA life there, and would have stayed to see that place become as massively successful as possible had I been able. But it wasn’t in the cards. For the past two years there’s been a contentious relationship between me and the other guy, but not because of anything I am doing or acting on. Honestly, I think he has hurt feelings, on one hand, and on the other looks at me as stealing from his potential gene pool. I’ve tried mending the feelings-fence: nothing else I can do there. And as far as stealing goes, trust me… I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, and neither is he. Plus, I charge more for my services. I think I’m worth it. I focus on private instruction and have a policy of strict adherence to the rules. My shop motto is “Train Hard – Dive Easy”. While the other place has been slowly puttering along for the past couple years, recently there’s been a huge push to get it back to her glory days, filled with motivated divers and instructors, with everyone following the rules, and legit having a good-damned-time. I saw them all just the other day, and couldn’t help but think, at least initially, jealous. Maybe a little hurt. Where was this shop when I was there? That’s exactly what I wanted to be a part of! Is it better because I left?What I settled on is this: yes. It is better because I left. Not because I’m not there, however, but because I’m here! I’m around the corner doing things right. It’s made the shop step up. They are striving to be better and that, my friends, makes us all better. I want happy divers, no matter where they train, or which agency they started with. The more of us out there learning how to dive safely, and with epic buoyancy only makes the entire recreation look appealing to the other land lubbers out there. Plus, who knows? I meet people all the time who start somewhere else, but then decide to do their advanced training at another shop. I don’t mind being the “other shop”! …it’s better because I’m not there. They are thriving because I left… At the end of the day, what I’ve come to realize is that the other shop’s performance is a reflection of me, my shop, and the efforts of the dive leaders I have brought on board and developed since leaving. They aren’t trying to be better than me – they’re trying to be better than themselves. That’s huge! It’s the biggliest!! I applaud them for it. And it makes me feel better.