On Thursday, April 05, 2001 1:32 PM, Wayne McKenzie wrote:

(snip)
> I will have to get Rita to try using her tongue. :-) She usually gets me
to
> spit in her mask as she cannot seem to produce enough. Now that must be
> love.

G'Day,Wayne!  Rita's dilemma reminds me of a piece that I once did on diving
etiquette and the need for a considered approach to de-fogging a face-mask!
:-)

" For those
people who still prefer to de-fog their mask with saliva rather than using
one of the commercial preparations, the correct method is to turn your back
on bystanders and, with the action coming from the mouth alone, gently spit
directly onto the mask lens with a noise no louder than a soft, "Phwittt!".
(A spitting action drawn from the back of the throat or from deep down in
the toes and culminating in an explosive, "AAHHRRRRGPHWEWPH!", is considered
unnecessary and nothing more than an ostentatious attempt to impress others
with your prowess.)

Neither is it always appropriate to offer assistance to those divers less
gifted than ones self!  Remember!  An offer to spit into somebody else's
face mask will often create a dilemma for the owner!

While an uncouth diver may be tempted to respond to such an offer by saying
something like, "What?  You're joking, aren't you?  You've still got bits of
spinach from dinner stuck between your teeth!", the well mannered diver
understands that a soft rejection is less likely to cause offence!  Their
answer would probably follow the lines of, "That's terribly kind of you, but
I actually plan to work on my mask clearing technique by allowing it to fog
and periodically letting in water to cleanse it!  Perhaps another time?"
"

Strike