Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?

[keptin]

I was walking in a field of cactus (one of many today), minding my own business, when tkatkatkatkatakatkatkatka. Five foot rattlesnake right in my path, one of the few non-spiky ways across. What do you do in this situation, you might ask? You curse loudly until your supervisor comes over, then half the field crew stands around and goes "whoa,

Comments

[lex_of_green]

Man, you really ARE Indiana Jones.

[keptin]

Damn right I am. The only problem is that after four years of everyone calling me Indy at school and another year of everyone calling me Indy at work, I have to go by my real name here and it irritates me. I like Indy better, but I can't introduce myself that way to archaeologists I just met.

[aliseadae]

Names are weird. I prefer Brackett in some situations, but I don't really want strangers calling me that. I like it when friends do, but most people call me Sally.

[keptin]

Oh, I want them to call me Indy, but asking them to is kind of like signing up for a gym, then asking all the long-time body-builders in it to call scrawny little you "Schwarzenegger". They might laugh and think it's cool, or they might decide you're a douchebag.

[aliseadae]

Yeah, makes sense. Do you ever go by anything other than Indy or your real name?

[keptin]

I used to go by Keptin (hence the name of this LJ) about as strongly as I went by Indy, but I abandoned it upon reaching college for pretty much the same reasons I'm not going by Indy. As a Freshman, asking upperclassmen to call you "Captain" (albeit with a Russian accent) is arrogant and unfriendly, even if the name was originally given sociably.