It’s a bustling bar
energized with people young and old, rear-ends parked on barstools, ice cold
beverage in hand and all engaged in conversation.
Next to me was some
rousing exchange between some guys over a woman.
One guy in particular,
mentioned when trying to make some relationship headway, there was an
interruption to his efforts. The relationship
was failing to move to the next level.
Sometimes the best
place to resolve any challenging dilemma is to seek some advice from the
people sitting at the bar.
It makes sense. A lot
of life's problems can be easily resolved just by bellying up to the bar to
have discussions with friends, any bartender willing to listen, or maybe
complete strangers just a barstool away.
It's a common scenario. The T.V. show "Cheers" is well known for their humorous topics tackled while sitting at the bar. To this day, it's still one of my favorite shows.
It's a common scenario. The T.V. show "Cheers" is well known for their humorous topics tackled while sitting at the bar. To this day, it's still one of my favorite shows.
So, naturally, when Mister
O and I were approached at the bar to provide some love connection advice, we
were more than willing to jump in and give our two cents.
This fella, in his
late twenties, had been jabbering with his buddies about how he was disturbed
that the gal he'd been dating had a pet snake.
Mister O and I just
happened to be a barstool and an earshot away and couldn't help but to get
drawn into this reptilian dating drama.
Turns out he was
deathly afraid of snakes. He made this very apparent from the extreme look of
fear on his face when explaining the first time he discovered her slithering
pet.
Going over to her
house knowing there was a snake taking up residence in her living room,
literally caused him to sweat like a guy wearing milkbone underwear at a dog
show.
The guy was more
nervous than Norm Peterson being told the bar's beer tap ran dry.
His reluctance to get
cozy with a lady and her snake had him questioning what to do next.
1. Should he call it
quits and say good riddance to her and the snake?
2. Should he give an
ultimatum - it's either him or the snake?
3. Should there be a “fatal
attraction” moment with a pot of boiling snake soup?
4. Should he try to
accept the rodent eating snake and learn to love all 7 feet of it.
If Cliff Clavin were sitting at the
bar, what would he say?
He'd probably babble
off a list of statistical facts about Ophidiophobia (a fear of snakes).
He’d probably say that the fear may be evolutionary, developed by our ancestors as a
survival mechanism. Symptoms
may include, but are not limited to, shaking, crying or running away from
snakes. You may experience heart
palpitations or have difficulty breathing. You may
find it difficult or even impossible to remain
in the same room as the snake.
Based on these facts, this
dude had a full blown case of Ophidiophobia!
Just like a bar scene
from "Cheers," Mister O (aka Norm)
told him if she's a loyal snake lover, she'd probably choose the snake over him
anyway. He should just move on and spare himself the grief. Norm likely would have added, “Women. Can’t
live with ‘em, pass the beer nuts!”
I, on the other hand, (aka Carla) thought if he really
liked this woman, he should face his fears and save any dignity he had left and
man-up to the situation or go home.
Additionally, his
buddy (aka Sam Malone)
implied that he may be suffering from a fear of "size inadequacy." In
comparison to the snake's length, he may be feeling inferior that his manhood
didn't measure up.
Which, by the way he
denied. Adding, he had no desire to swing that much footage!
Too bad we didn’t have
a posing Dr. Frasier Crane or Woody for this barstool debate. Dr. Crane would
have given some psycho analysis explanation for his fears and Woody would've
simply asked "what did you say the snake's name was?"
After all this
barstool counseling, not sure if this guy took any of our advice. However, it did seem he might be planning to
avoid any further snake confrontation.
One thing is for sure,
if you find yourself sitting on a barstool pondering life's questions, you'll
probably get some pretty good answers from the friendly characters sitting at
the bar.
Sometimes it’s just
nice to take a break from all your worries and maybe even go to a place where
everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came! Cheers!
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