INTRODUCTION TO BOOK 2
So it seems almost everybody enjoyed The Scuba Snobs’ Guide to Diving Etiquette. Most readers were even willing to admit they loved it, and some even acknowledged that they learned some things from it. On-line book stores and scuba web site reviews ran the gamut from one star, “you suck” to 5 stars, “you rule.” Fortunately, there were a whole lot more 5’s than 1’s. We suspect those who did not care for the book are either (a) violators of the Scuba Snobs’ rules of etiquette, or (b) have no sense of humor or irony, or (c) are a part of the misguided portion of our population who thinks there is never an appropriate time to criticize anyone for anything. In any event, we have now written Book 2 because it is clear that many of you agreed with the one reviewer who wrote a review of the original book concluding “I can hardly wait for Book 2 to come out!” Bless her heart. You will also notice that this book is quite a bit longer than the first, not just because it has more words, but also because we went to bigger print so it looks like you’re getting more for your money, which you are.
From additional diving on our part (it’s all part of the job), as well as receiving direct input from our readers, we have accumulated a number of additional rules of etiquette for divers that we need to share, and we incorporate them into chapters roughly paralleling the first book, in some cases after listing the original rules from The Scuba Snobs Guide to Diving Etiquette for your easy reference and review. We do keep references to the first book to a minimum, though, so if you haven’t yet read it, you need to buy it and read it to get the full value of the wisdom, funny stories and nuance it contains.
Like the first book, this second one will not be to everyone’s taste. That’s ok. We still love you all, even if some of you said we don’t sound like very fun people, and others of you called us “old curmudgeons” (that hurt). Both characterizations are wrong, or mostly wrong, or wrong some of the time, depending. We really are fun people. Most of those who wrote reviews sensed that and called us “refreshing,” “insightful,” “entertaining” and other good things. To those insightful, literate, discerning and obviously highly intelligent people, we express our sincere thanks.
And so, having already made our apologies in Chapter 11 of The Scuba Snobs’ Guide to Diving Etiquette, here we go again!