At The Dive Shop With My Scuba Diver Dad

Hanging out at the dive shop.

Last weekend, we were driving along the Southern State Parkway on Long Island when old memories suddenly came back to me. As we approached the Baldwin exit 20S, I remembered hanging out with my dad at the dive shop on Grand Avenue. My dad was really into scuba diving for most of my life.


Around 1982, my dad would take me to his friend's scuba diving shop every Saturday morning. Dad was tight with the owner --  a jolly, Irish white-haired man everyone loved. He would let me have anything I wanted. The shop sold Lance brand snacks. I remember munching on endless packages of peanut butter sandwich crackers and playing hours of free arcade games while dad would sip coffee and talk shop with his dive buddies.


A big fan of E.T., I created a poster of E.T. wearing a scuba mask and tank which the dive shop owner loved. He hung my poster up and left it there for as long as I can remember. Those were good times -- innocent, happy times spent hanging with my dad while mom was busy cleaning and food shopping.  It's funny how free arcade games and snacks were all it took to keep a kid content back then.