It's hard to believe that your customer was a fireman. His profession depends on rigorous training, with ingrained safety mechanisms, so as to protect the lives of the public and his compatriots. He didn't get to where he is by going out and buying a hose and an axe, setting an occupied building on fire, and then charging in to see if he could save the day because he watched "Backdraft" a couple of times. Maybe he's one of the ones that would endanger himself and other people in any situation. It doesn't sound like he has the typical fireman mindset. Thinking back on my own first few lessons and getting t-bagged all over the place, I can't fathom the naivete of some people thinking they can just buy the gear and learn by trial and error, with a little help from You-tube. Maybe firefighting either produces very large cohones, or chronic smoke inhalation dulls the senses. At any rate, I think that your suggestions have a lot of merit. It's a tough thing to do, to discourage people from buying gear, when selling equipment is your livelihood. Like you said, he can really just get it anywhere, especially on the internet.
What occurs to me, is that the people that buy the gear without lessons must have an accomplice somewhere - most likely a friend that kiteboards and has told them "I can teach you. You don't need those expensive lessons". The friends are the real ones with the lack of sense. I've seen this happen a couple of times, and the "experienced" ones are often without a clue themselves. I'm sure there are accomplished riders out there who teach friends, but you don't notice them because they do it within the confines of accepted safe practices.
|