Does this give us leverage? Yes, it does - we made commitments based on sacrifice no others would be willing to do unless a badge was held in front of them. We went to every waterway on the continents to discover the weather, the water, cultural differences and personalities, language and genders. We did this at our own expense to benefit others. We listened to people. We respected others. We respect our ancestry in the maritime community.
No, we have not been perfect, we have made mistakes and remedial corrections after eating humble pie and continue to do so. Continually we asked for advice and seek out boating knowledge from around the world and throughout time.
For our human capacity, we communicate intelligibly to our community. We do not block or restrict others. We donât have that on our spiritual account. We do not allow predators to lie about their negative representation of our company.
We do everything we can to help our competitors and their clients. We reach out and invite these instructors in our community, we have certified them in our own courses and paid for their instructor courses so they could thrive. They do not acknowledge this publicly. We know one another and there are no secrets here.
To grow our community is vital so we all spiral upward. We negotiate the peace in our community while others hold onto war and its deep and longstanding. We do our best to take the mote our of our eye, and we encourage others to do the same.
Humans personalize the sacredness of water safety; (much like everything in life) we are obligated to give back and to equalize what we receive. We are not avatars of a group, or a twitter mob of anger, we are not interested in power or pitting others against one another, we are not appalling.
We dive deep, we do not tread the shallow waters, we go where it is uncomfortable and we speak the correctness we also aspire to represent. We believe in fundamental training truths and accountability.
Notice how our phrasing is inclusive? Itâs about we, us, you, ours; not mine, me and I.
I am hated because I know who these people are and they know I have their number. They donât want to shoulder the responsibility of our community properly. They want territory, and this accounts for cowardice. This weakens their teams, their command, their student cadre and our maritime community. The fault does not lie anywhere else but with us as respective instructors and companies. We know who we are and who they are.
Judge our training character. Judge our ways, words and actions, judge our student behaviors. Bring it to the table for remedial action and networking = how to make things better.
Judge our safety record, the highest in the industry ever.
Judge our 37,000 hours of instruction and the programs we assisted to develop.
Judge that we created the Military programs and MRV training. Just that we created the certification program to operate in big wave conditions aka NOAA's High Surf Advisories. Judge that we create Night Operation training. Judge that we created Swiftwater/flood and tsunami response training. Judge that we created the only training and manuals available for Course Marshals and water event safety.
We did it all, and we did it with thousands of professionals and competent companies supporting the mission. We did not do this alone, we did it as a team with the Personal Water Craft industry and professionals who need solutions for their work, but we were the impetus, the genesis and they continue the outreach.
There is along pedigree of partnership that has benefited thousands in over 40 countries, we did not do this alone, they did it by participation.
So, if you are better, we become better. If companies or individuals would stop being defensive and break the wall with humility, and that somebody in that structure has the courage to speak the truth instead of defending cowardice, who is it going to be? Who is this person going to be? It is going to be me.
People are afraid to stand up because they fear the reality of discrimination and retribution. That is a real fear, the bullies are angry, disturbing and aggressive. There are ethical decisions being made. There is no weight on my conscious make sure there is none on yours.
I do not have fear here because I have been facing discrimination by my water safety colleagues for decades, so its water off the back of this duck. They helped me more than they realize and I want to help them back, with camaraderie and respect.
Letâs not cause harm. Letâs not lie to our water safety community. Letâs investigate together fact versus fiction. Letâs challenge one anotherâs methods without fear and insecurity. We do this for our students we should have no problem doing it for one another.
We are a unifying force of goodwill, that is the identify of K38; we are not adversarial or stabbing others in a jealous attempt of academy. We rely on evidence.
My company has faced sexism like a pyroclastic flow. My instructors were judged because of me being a woman, which is so unfair to their desire to teach. Did it stop them? Not at all.