Today, I assisted on the Open Water dives 3 and 4 for Larry and Brian. While supervising them on the ocean's bottom I must have kneeled on a hydroid. At first, I though I had cut my knee on a sharp piece of dead coral and I even let out a cry under water. When I came out of the waterI could see there was no cut, but the very painful sensation continued. I put some Calamine lotion on, but it didn't make a difference. I continued to suffer for the rest of the day.
 
After this unfortunate encounter, Gabriel showed me how to use The Wheel (tm), this weird contraption from PADI that allows you to calculate your safe bottom times. Everybody uses tables or computers, but knowing how to use The Wheel (tm) is a requirement for the Divemaster certification. Go figure.
 
We then waited for the arrival of a very enthusiastic trio of divers. Greg and his two sons, Brian and Brent, just flew in from New Mexico, where, as Greg points out, they don't have much water. They're just here for four days and determined to do the most of their time here. They've signed up for the Advanced Open Water training. We took them on a first dive to check their diving abilities and work on their buyoancy control.
 
While I was watching them get setup and then underwater, it reminded me of an observation I made before: Divemasters are living embodiments of calmness.
A Divemaster never rushes. A Divemaster does things slowly and methodically. A Divemaster doesn't do brusque movements. A Divemaster's life is outwardly unharried. Underwater, a Divemaster is graceful and fluid. A Divemaster doesn't flinch when a fireworks explodes under his feet. OK, maybe not the last one. But in general, it's true that every Divemaster I've known have shared this characteristic. 
On the other hand, new divers are often seen running, rushing to put their equipment on, then putting it off because they forgot something, then putting it back on. Underwater, they have jerky movements, turn their heads left and right quickly, flail their arms around, point at thing excitedly. Basically, they behave as if they were on land.
Water is much denser than air, and therefore our movements and our demeanor need to adapt to the aquatic world. Conversely, Divemaster seems to have on land the same cool demeanor they have underwater. I wonder if my own demeanor is going to start changing, even when I get stung by a hydroid :-)