For those of you that don’t know, my unofficial name is Sister Mary Katherine. I am NOT a sister by any means, but this is what happens when you have a super Catholic name such as mine. Anyway, so part of my job is to wash gear. Gear is typically turned in by 4pm by most folks (they are just DONE diving for the day at that point). We don’t harass visitors about this, but instructors that come in and rent gear on a regular basis definitely know that we greatly appreciate it when gear is turned in before 5pm. We close at 6pm. For me, this means not only do I have gear to do at the end of the day (which gear typically takes about 2 hours), but also about 45 minutes of “other “ closing items I need to take care of. Our gear, depending on the piece, is washed in different cleaners. So for instance, if someone were to turn in a reg set and a wetsuit – I would have to fill the sink twice in two separate cleaners and would have to clean those pieces individually.
Today, one of our favorite customers/instructors Paul Crossman came in at 5:20pm with 4 buckets of gear containing about 4 sets total. I asked Paul if he was aware of MY policy, which is (as an instructor here on Maui) if you come in after 5pm you owe the “Gear Bitch” 1 beer per set. I feel this is a very good deal. After jokingly telling Paul about my new smack down policy, he was such a sweetie and went out and purchased a 12 pack of one of my favorite beers (Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA). He is now my favorite customer 🙂 Thanks Paul, you rock!!!