He took off fast as light as I yelled, "Do you have your cell phone?" after him. He did and he waved his water bottle as dismissal of my fears. He moved with such alacrity I could hardly believe my eyes. His image became smaller and smaller and I tried to assuage my daughter's concerns with, "He'll be fine." Soon I received a call from him as he screamed into the phone, "A rattlesnake jump out at me..." By the sound of his voice, I could tell he was running but all of a sudden, I could not see him. I asked where he was and he screamed that he was on his way back. In a New York minute, it seemed, he was standing in front of me; it was more like a "rattlesnake second."

He had seen a rattler, but the snake had been just as afraid of him as he had been of it. My son, wisely, backed away and ran as fast as he could, not looking back but sure the snake was following. It, of course, was not. The snakes we meet everyday aren't as timid or as afraid of us. They lie in wait in the form of greedy split partners, governors who make a messy bed that we have to lie in, clients that wait until the last possible moment to pay a fee, Hiring Supervisors that disrupt salary negotiations, candidates who fail to show up at appointed interviews, and/or vendors that don't quite live up to their promised services.

How we handle the snakes we face develops character and is a clear indication of our own personal ethics. Will you run? Will you face it down with a stronger rattle of your own? Or will the snake have his way with you, leaving a mark or sting long after the encounter has passed? Preparation and knowing what you could be facing will make any meeting, chance or otherwise, more likely to go your way and scare the reptile off or, at least, back into his hole. Have the brains to match your brawn; prove you are bigger than the snake by being smarter than it. And don't be tricked by declarations that they don't exist. They do, just be ready.

© by rayannethorn