Grand Opening / Square Peg / Kindness
Sorry it’s been so long since I've written, been a little busy! We have thrown out there the concept of a grand opening for the new location of Scuba Marco. Let’s talk about the meaning of the phrase ‘grand opening’. Right now to me, it just feels grand that we are open. I don’t recall having a grand opening at the little house under the big tree nearly 28 years ago. It was a lot of work to open up the old shop and even more to move it after all that time to our new place. I’m thankful that for the relocation we had a lot more people contributing to the cause. People doesn’t do them justice… They are more like saints and angels. It was a long, hard and exhausting period for John, Jessi, and myself. The list of people that contributed to the successful transition is very long. If I try to list names, I would invariably leave somebody out, and I don’t want to do that. We are still settling in and trying to create space. We talked about what to do for our grand opening, but have really come up empty. So I’m thinking of our get together Friday evening as a Grand That We’re Open more than a Grand Opening celebration.
I have summarized this endeavor as trying to fit a square peg into a round hole on numerous occasions. That usually doesn’t end well! I think we have done a nice job trimming the corners off of the peg and enlarging the hole and hammering said peg into that hole. The shop turned out really nice. It’s warm and welcoming and for being in a plaza, I think we did a good job of bringing that laid-back, island vibe to the new place. I don’t really miss the old shop. It was time for us to create Scuba Marco 2.0. When I miss the huge Guanna Costa tree, I just drive down to old Marco and give it a big hug. I thought it was nice to have the dive shop so close to the Snook Inn docks previously. It wasn’t until we started launching trips from the new shop, off the dock just outside our back door, that I realized that extra step of loading the truck to transport all the gear was no fun. Like life, there are pros and cons to just about everything. We made it to the finish line though! Although we crawled down the homestretch and passed out just after crossing the line… we finished the race!
Mean people suck! Thankfully, I do believe there are plenty more nice people out there than haters. I became a scuba instructor and opened up a dive shop because I felt that being underwater was spiritually gratifying. I wanted to introduce other people to it because it enhanced my existence on this planet. It truly is a better world underwater and I know most of you understand exactly what I’m talking about. The awesome thing that I didn’t consider when I opened up the shop is that scuba divers are inherently laid-back and nice people. My path mostly crosses the paths of other people who just want to defy gravity for a while, escape into the water and enjoy all the magnificent creatures that live there. That is a beautiful and unique situation! Most businesses don’t naturally attract kind and caring customers. It is truly a blessing, and you are the kind people that have blessed me. Thanks!!
Should probably talk about diving. It was an awesome spring for local visibility! We had top to bottom vis (or close to it) for most of April and May. It has dropped off to about average (15-20 feet in around 40’ of depth) as the Gulf has gotten toasty quickly. I hope that many of you are able to join our Grand to be Open Celebration this Friday. I envision the majority of us hanging at the Speak Easy and then people coming over in waves to check out Scuba Marco 2.0. It would be a little tight in here with 25 or 30 of us at the same time. Not that you’re a square peg… A hole can only be expanded so far! Until then…
Live Love Dive — Jeff
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