I’ve had a few nicknames in my life. I wasn’t initially a fan of one of them until I found out my dad had the same nickname. Now I know the name, and being called the word usually points to negative or bad characteristics, which is why I didn’t like the name at first. My friends in my band back in the late 90’s started calling me “Snake” one day at practice, and it stuck. I thought it was a cool nickname because of characters like Jake “The Snake” Roberts from wrestling, Snake from the Metal Gear video games, and Snake Plissken from the cult classic film: Escape From New York. You know, all cool and tough characters. Then I realized what people are saying when they call you “snake.” None of it was good, which got to me because I try my hardest ever since I was a teenager to be a good person.
I asked my bandmates/friends what made them start calling me Snake, and I asked them if they could stop, or find a different nickname for me. Here’s what they said that helped change my mind about the nickname: Firstly, they told me snakes are bad ass, and they thought what I was doing on the microphone (I was a metal singer) was bad ass. I told them that was cool, but being called a snake was being told you’re untrustworthy and a jerk… I don’t want anyone to think that’s me.
They told me I’m nothing like that, and said that anyone who knows me knows I’m a good person. They then proceeded to tell me that when I belted out my vocals it was like I was shedding my skin from being my usual calm and quiet self. I transformed into a person that couldn’t stand still and couldn’t be silent. They saw the raw emotion within me coming out with every word I screamed or sang, and that it was like I became a different person or the person I was behind the quiet one. This is like a snake shedding its skin, which is in a sense a rebirth, which is what they were essentially saying. They also mentioned how a snake is typically harmless looking when it’s lying in the grass, but at the snap of a finger it goes into defense or attack-mode, which is how they compared me to outside of band practice to inside band practice. I was feeling better about it at that point, but they took it further.
They said outside of the band stuff that I was like a protector of people (something I’m still told to this day), and how people always told them they felt safe around me. I was reminded of some of the things snakes symbolize like, strength, wisdom, knowledge, and protection, and they said they see those characteristics in me. My outlook on the name changed drastically, and I was proud to be seen that way by the people that knew me. No one calls me Snake, now, other than an old friend I talk to every few years.
My dad got his nickname when he was in the Army. He never told me why they called him Snake, but to have the same nickname as my father was and still is very special to me.
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