Laura Living Kinda Dangerously

In my entire life, I have never held a snake. I have briefly touched one, but never held one. If children can do it, this old lady can.

The Fear Factor

I remember the first time that I saw Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as a child, and while the ripping out of the heart in the temple sacrifice scene was the most terrifying, the close second was when Indiana ended up in the room full of snakes. “I hate snakes!” If Indiana Jones could perform all of the dangerous feats that he does, and it was the snakes that scared him the most, that told me everything that I needed to know to join that club.

Living in the Lowcountry, one runs into the occasional snake, but I do remember being confronted by a water moccasin on the golf course where ai worked in college. Water moccasins are known to be aggressive, and instead of running away from me, that devil came at me like it had nothing to lose. Thus, I said to hell with all of them. I, like Indiana Jones before me, have a fear of snakes.

What’s the worst that could happen?

I could get bitten and die in the time it takes two steps away from it? It could wrap around my neck and choke me? (I really feel like the catastrophic answer to this question should be obvious on all of my blog posts.)

Anxiety Level

Uuuummm, I think a 7. I volunteered to hold this snake, so it should not have been a 10.