Congratulations, you’re the Labrador!
Films come in all sorts of genres.
Comedy.
Action.
Horror.
Nobody sits down one day and decides,
"Right. From now on, I only enjoy thrillers."
Somewhere along the way, you simply realise...
"Yeah... these are my kind of films."
Diving works in much the same way.
Nobody consciously decides what kind of buddy they're going to become.
You don't wake up one morning determined to become the person who's permanently checking everyone else's air.
Or the one who's always reorganising their equipment.
Or the one who somehow spots every nudibranch before anyone else.
Somewhere between your first dive and your hundredth...
It quietly becomes part of who you are.
And before long, everyone else notices it too.
The Influencer
Still filming the giant stride.
Needs "one more take" at least six times.
Has somehow turned the safety stop into content.
The Stressed
Did a bubble check twice.
Still unconvinced.
Relaxes approximately three minutes after surfacing.
The Safety First
Checks your air once.
Unconvinced… checks again…
Will ask your NDL at 10 metres.
The Equipment Connoisseur
Is adjusting your equipment within tive minutes.
Nobody asked…
No one else cares.
The Motionless
Perfectly relaxed.
Almost suspiciously so.
Will happily let the current make all major life decisions.
The Wanderer
Spots something.
Changes direction immediately.
Remembers the dive plan somewhere around the safety stop.
The Sat Nav
Always knows which way is north.
Needs less than one minute to learn the entire site.
Will safely surface suspiciously close to the boat.
The Data Analyst
Has already calculated their SAC rate.
Knows the water temperature to one decimal place.
Spends the dive looking at their screen.
The Labrador
Has already carried your fins onto the boat.
Would carry the boat if somebody asked.
Has already packed half your equipment away.
The Explorer
Already twenty metres ahead.
Convinced they'll find an undiscovered bommie...
Is quietly disappointed if you don’t cover the entire site.
The 20-20 Vision
Has seen a thing.
Points at the thing.
Has already spotted another thing while you're looking at the first.
Ask somebody what kind of dive buddy they are...
You'll probably get the wrong answer.
Ask the person they dive with every weekend...
You'll get the real one.
You don't earn these titles.
Nobody announces them.
One day your regular buddy simply starts expecting it.
And before long...
That's just who you are.