I Got Punked!

I can’t believe I got punked by one of my Wicked Diving instructors. I have spent over a month with the Wicked Diving Komodo team working on advancing my dive certifications and recently started my Rescue Diver Course.

I wasn’t initially thrilled about getting my EFR (Emergency First Responder) certification required for the Rescue Diver Course. Why? Classroom time means no dive time! Instead of a day out diving keeping cool with the manta rays or discovering camouflaged cuttlefish and scorpion fish underwater, I’d instead be spending a full day in the classroom watching guys in mullets in 80’s generation training videos. But this is a necessary and crucial step, and I knew it would be relatively easy because I’ve kept up with my CPR & First Aid over the last decade.

We go through our DVD material, and the DVD kept restarting. To get back to where were we, we had to manually fast-forward at a 2x fwd rate. I’m feeling like I’m watching a Hawksbill turtle. Slooowww!

It’s about 1/2 way through the day. We decide to take a break, and when I get back, he’s not ready. He calls one of the other dive guides down to help with the TV and I think nothing of it. I’m checking my Facebook and Instagram not paying any attention to what’s going on before I hear a loud POP!

It took me a second to register what was going on. There’s chaos, and I see our dive guide is leaning over the TV unresponsive. I’m thinking, “WTF! Is this a joke?” No way did he just get electrocuted. It would seem too obvious to pull a stunt like that when I’m working on my EFR. What are the odds of something like this happening? I mean, it is Komodo, and I can’t say that the electrical sockets are the safest.

I ask them if this an exercise, but they’re yelling at each other and fingers are being pointed back and forth to do something. I think what if this is a real accident? I immediately switch gears and run up and check the power supply and then lay him down to check for breathing, and then I finally get one of the guys to break a smile, and I’m relieved! What the hell guys!? Okay, you got me.

What I learned was that they popped a balloon from behind the TV. Since I’ve been in Indonesia, I’ve not seen ONE balloon at all in this country – let alone this tiny town of Labuan Bajo. I swear if these guys could get an Oscar, it would be well-deserved. I am happy to say I passed the exam with flying colors, probably because I didn’t want ever to have to deal with that mini heart attack ever again. 🙂