Quote Originally Posted by ndv21 View Post
IMHO

First off, there is a difference between being academically (book) smart and being street smart. An equal balance is ideal in life. I will not touch the mental maturity issue, but given the fact that you are 18 it is important for YOU to realize that you have A LOT to learn. One of the things you should've been taught as a young kid should've been respect and common courtesy. This is not up for discussion.

Secondly, you mentioned playing several team sports and as a member of a team, there a lot of socialization skills that should've been learned early on and you are not showing any signs of it.

Third, If you enjoy the underwater world, I assume that you are a recreational diver? My issue is that I am a certified Master Diver with about 750 deep sea dives under my belt ranging from reefs, to Atlantic Ship Wrecks, and cavern/cave dives. There are so many factors that come into play with this sport and I would NEVER dive with anyone who is not 100% sure of themselves at the surface, or at 200 ft. beneath the waves. Judging by the amount of questions you ask about "what should I do next" leads me to believe you are unsure of your self and lack self-confidence. I recommend you seriously work on that.

Lastly, some members have already said to "JUST APOLOGIZE" and yet you still don't for whatever reason. What other way should we portray this message for you to understand and take action? It is very frustrating and I suggest you put yourself in our shoes and think about this for a second.

I am not going to tell you what to do and I do not expect a reply with excuses. If you decide to stick around fine, but I will leave you with one piece of advice:

"Quit posting, use the search forum for your answers, smoke some cigars, get a feel for the forum and how it works, and then chime in on different topics."

Take this as you please.
In my opiniong, social skills vary greatly from the internet to real life. I may not protray them here, but I have well developed social skills both in athletics and with friends.

You're assuming I am a recreational diver. I am not, though I am studying my ass off on PADIs website during my recently started certification course.

In real life, I do have 100% confidence in what I am doing. Mostly because I am good at what I do (Hockey and Lacrosse goalie), I am not holding myself with confidence on this forum because, well, how could I? Less than a day into posting, I had wronged someone, and instead of a slight nudging in the right direction, I was verbally attacked by many members.

You mention commmon sense and respect. I thought I was being respectful at the beginning, and some members here seem to think I was being rude. Whatever, that's not my problem if they percieve me as being rude. Especially since I can't really do anything to convince you over the internet.

I had not yet apologized because I was waiting for the strings of conversation in this thread to die down before apologizing. I had put myself in your shoes. I had looked through my posts to see what I had done that was disrespectful, or rude, but I did not come up with much. Maybe when I get old and start slowing down I'll see it differently, but right now I don't see what was disrespectful.

Unfortunately, despite the kindness received from some members, I feel that this is not the place for me. You were right. I don't fit in. Maybe I should try puff.com, I probably wont though.

This time, I'm actually leaving.

You should be proud of yourselves. Maybe your wives will make you a sammich.


I'm off to a hockey game, have fun with your forum.

Edit: I root for the CWS above any other baseball team.