6/7/2006 - The health of diving

One of my favourite dive buddies [and people] is one of those people who engages in so many bad habits it just makes me roll my eyes and shake my head and wonder when he's going to find himself a girlfriend that will take care of those habits.

[I know where he could find a girl, he just hasn't realised it yet! I am, however, working on getting it through into his thick skull, but I'm old fashioned and romantic at heart, even though waiting for the guy to make his move is really starting to wear thin... but this isn't about my lack of lovelife...]

He smokes like a chimney. Drinks more than a whale. Has horrendously awful driving habits. Swears more than a sailor. Is terribly bad at being reliable. Doesn't understand the concept of punctuality. Has no idea what tact is. [And yet, I still love the guy... bizarre, isn't it?]

So this guy, Will [hehehe, "Will & Grace"], is probably along the lines of your typical aussie bloke when it comes to things like drinking and partying and having a good time. He's been promising me for years and years and years that he'll quit smoking. He's tried telling me a number of times that he's only a "social drinker" [apparently he has a very, very busy social life] and tries to convince me that he's taken up jogging or cycling or hockey each time I start nagging him about his terribly bad exercise and living habits.

I'm no supermodel or healthnut when it comes to looking after myself. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I'm a bit too involved with chocolate, and my ass could probably be a third of the size it is now. Still, I play a lot of sport (netball & tennis) on top of my diving, but having a desk-type-job is really not conducive to maintaining a beautiful figure at the best of times. It's why I love my drysuit so much - it's much more forgiving about extra curves and handles than those second-skin neoprene buggers of a wetsuit are!

Anyway. Purpose of this post is not to lament about my larger-than-life sizing, nor to whine about the bad habits of a guy who isn't actually mine to whine about [minor technicality there which I'm sure I'll get sorted out in the soonish future... I've been saying that for the last year or so though...] , but rather the reason why those things irritate me.

Way back, when I was in fifth grade, my school did a "Doc for a Day" program at our local hospital. The program consisted of us kids being ushered into an operating theatre by a scary surgeon wearing a bright white coat and a very darth-vaderish looking face protector "This is where I operate on people with lung cancer." He then proceded to pass around a preserved smoker's lung set in a clear resin (I have no idea what those freaks use to freeze things in time like that, but damn it was like a very ugly paperweight).

Then we got taken to a small room and shown video after video after video of bad lungs and coughing and cigarettes and the evil of smoking.

I have never, EVER liked smoking. Even when I was a little girl, apparently I used to walk around all the smokers and take their cigarettes telling them they were being "Naughty". My parents swear high and low they had nothing to do with me exercising that sort of propoganda - my Dad even used to be a smoker!! So I've always had it in for smoking.

One of my best friend's mother was killed by a drunk driver. Hence, I have an intrinsic hatred for people who drive under the influence. I don't mind drinking - I've been known to enjoy a bottle of red or *gasp* girly drinks every now and then. Responsible drinking, though, is the key.

Why am I harping on this?

Diving is a pretty intense sport. It requires a surprising level of fitness and health, and the risks associated with it are pretty damn severe if you really stop and think about them for a few minutes. That said, it's a very 'safe' sport because of the awareness that it could be dangerous.

If you are an active diver, I think you need to take some responsibility for your health and fitness level. You don't need to have the greatest body on the face of the planet, or need to be some fitfreak who bulges muscle when they walk, but a certain level of healthy lifestyle is, in my opinion, required. I know that when it comes to looking like a healthy diver, I probably don't fit the bill because I am overweight (so this could be taken as a bit of pot-calling-kettle-black posting). That said, I try to be responsible as a general rule when it comes to living a healthy life by exercising regularly (diving, tennis & netball mainly) and not smoking (which is something I DETEST).

Just in case you couldn't tell, I absolutely adore Will. I've hassled him about his smoking and drinking and other habits since before I knew I liked him, the same way I hassle and nag everyone else who I know that smokes and drinks and whatnot. Some people possibly find it annoying, but I normally ask people if it offends them when I nag. Usually they say no, they know they should quit, and I just remind them about it. In reality, I'm not naive enough these days to believe people when they tell me they'll quit smoking or drinking, so there's not much point in hassling. Still, I hassle them anyway because I care about them.

I know what smoking does to your lungs. More so, given my occupation, than the average person. I know what drinking does to your liver and your brain and every other system as a result. God, I see the results on an almost daily basis. The intricate effects of those biological pathways that get triggered and how they snowball into something so out of control it completely takes over your body and your life.

I hassle, because I care, and I think the people I hassle realise that. At least, I hope they do.

When you look at these habits on their own, they're bad enough. Then you combine them to diving, which has its own inherent risks, and suddenly you have this time bomb waiting to go off. The tiniest little bit of air trapped in your lungs because of the smoking, and you could be dead. Just like that. A big night out with the boys and the beer, and you could be bent, just like that.

All these habits are so, so self-destructive, and yet, people can't seem to stop them. I imagine some of you reading this smoke (in fact, statistically I'd be very surprised if most of you didn't). Or drink a lot. And most of you will sigh and think that "Grace is too big for her boots; she thinks she knows what it's like."

You know what? I don't know what it's like to smoke, because I have never had any desire to engage in it. I'm frustrated because I see people I care about harming themselves in a way that they'll only realise in the future. By then it's permanent, and too late, and doubtlessly the end of their diving lives. For good. If not their normal lives.

If you smoke, and you love diving, you need to realise that there's a very, VERY high chance that one day in the future you're going to have to choose between diving and smoking. They're both expensive, they're both dangerous. I guess it's up to you which one is more fun and more important to you.