Dive Dive Dive

One of my boyhood dreams was to be a submariner.

If the Canadian Navy had actually had a fleet of operating boats, perhaps life would have been very different.

The Canadian fleet of the early 60’s consisted of 4 four old Oberon class diesel submarines. These operated on a marginal basis at best. We did not have the fancy fleet like the Americans.

I would read in National Geographic of their great Navy fleets and this new submarine that was atomic powered, the Nautilus. This was the future. Imagine a boat that could cruise under the polar cap and around the world with no need for refuelling! This was the stuff of fiction, not reality in Canada.

What was this compulsion towards submarines? I have asked myself that many times. Self diagnosing all my strange psychosis trying to figure out if I had some hidden meaning in wanting to be in a boat (they are called boats not ships) that was built for stealth and secrecy and black ops. Being a high “C” style that fit my personality style, after all, we “C”s like our privacy and our secrets. 

Nope, I just thought it would be a neat career.

A few years ago we were speaking in New York and driving back we tripped across the US submarine service museum at Groton Conn. Imagine the thrill when we found the Nautilus sitting there at permanent dock with FREE tours!

 I was like that kid of 10 complete with goose bumps itching to get on board and discover her secrets. It was fabulous. I had waited over 40 years to realize that dream.

However I had still not actually dived in a sub. Then we came to Aruba... This year I had the opportunity to board a tourist submarine and dive to 130 feet! Wow, what a thrill! Imagine getting off a cruise ship to get on a boat that is designed to sink! 

Barb did not come...

              

           

So what is the message of all this?

Delayed gratification is a term we don’t hear very often in today’s world. Everyone wants everything now. There is no waiting in this instant society. Instant breakfast, instant on for my iPad, instant coffee, everything is no more waiting.

If we think back to previous generations they were used to this idea of delayed gratification. There’s was a world of economic uncertainty and no credit. They had to wait for the toys and better things in life. When was the last time you heard of someone sleeping on the idea of a purchase before saying yes?

Perhaps this is the time to re-instate that theory. Imagine how different the world may be. No more impulse shopping. No more closets full of wasted clothes. No more beta machines because they were out first. 

Come on, I know I was not the only one who fell for that!

The old saying “good things come to those who wait” might still have life in it...