# Next time, be more discrete; I dunno, yell out "FIRE!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 21, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-be-more-discrete-i-dunno-yell-out-fire/702060 "2014-10-21T18:53:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-be-more-discrete-i-dunno-yell-out-fire/702060/1 "2014-10-21T18:53:00Z")
It’s a beautiful sunny morning, temps in the 60°s, but rain’s a-comin’…two days worth of rain. ☹ I go over to the park for a run. Instead of going to the end near my house, I drive to the middle because I’m breaking in a pair of shoes & don’t want to run that far in them & this way I can run a few miles in one pair, come back to the car & then swap out & go the last few miles in the other pair & not have to do the same route twice. It’s a 15-20’ wide dirt/stone bridle path with a creek on one side & steep, tree-lined hills on the other side. No motorized traffic allowed; very peaceful place & even when it’s ‘busy’ (with walkers, runners, baby strollers, & cyclists) it’s still open. You can’t even see parts of the path because there are so many fallen leaves in places. I usually walk a bit to/from the car as a warm-up/cool down. I’m walking back to my car which is just on the other side of the historic inn with about 1½ dozen people eating lunch at various tables on the porch. Because this area is open, there are just a handful leaves on the ground on most of the path. I go to step in front of a downed branch when I think it moves. When I look again, it’s a snake that has now coiled up to strike. A closer look (from behind it) & it’s a 2½-3’ **RATTLESNAKE!!!** :eek: Yeah, I just had a rattlesnake coil up to strike me when I stepped in front of it! :eek: A couple comes up, the woman sees it & runs past screaming but the man doesn’t break stride from 10’ away. Another couple comes up & he confirms I’m not seeing things. Since it appears to be just sunning itself, I run back to my car, which is _maybe_ 50 yards away to get my phone/camera. However, when I get back it’s gone. I can’t find it, but to tell the truth, I don’t really feel like going thru the leaves to see if he’s hiding given that he’s, ummm, what’s the word, oh yeah, _poisonous_. I flag the waiter down & motion him over to me & _discretely_ tell him that there was a rattlesnake about 15’ away from the end of the building. He goes up the couple of steps onto & crosses the porch & obviously says something to someone inside because he turns back to me & says, “You said a rattlesnake, right?” You can hear the silverware dropping onto the plates, & _everyone_ looks at him, sees him looking at me & then there are 40 eyeballs on me. Yeah, ummm, the reason I called you over to me & said something _quietly_ to you is that I didn’t want to alarm your guests. :smack: I’m typing this with an empty shot glass next to me, the nerves are slowing relaxing now. First I was like, “Cool”, then on the car ride home, it hit me, you know, that pucker factor! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-be-more-discrete-i-dunno-yell-out-fire/702060/2 "2014-10-21T18:57:16Z")
Nitpick: The word you’re looking for is “discreet”, not “discrete”. Same pronunciation, different meanings. Don’t mean to be a grammar Nazi, but that’s one of my few pet peeves. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-be-more-discrete-i-dunno-yell-out-fire/702060/3 "2014-10-21T19:05:48Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > … what’s the word, oh yeah, _poisonous_… Isn’t it actually venomous? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-be-more-discrete-i-dunno-yell-out-fire/702060/4 "2014-10-21T19:13:31Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > … > > Yeah, ummm, the reason I called you over to me & said something _quietly_ to you is that I didn’t want to alarm your guests. :smack: They weren’t alarmed, they were changing their order to the other white meat, rattlesnake. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-be-more-discrete-i-dunno-yell-out-fire/702060/5 "2014-10-21T19:28:52Z")
I had a similar experience with a water moccasin. Only, I was alone in the wilds of south Florida. I stepped on the base of a fallen palm frond which caused the other end to rise up and reveal the snake right next to my foot. I jumped away but took a few pics of the venemous little guy from a discreet distance. Luckily, there was only one idiot present. So no mass panic. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-be-more-discrete-i-dunno-yell-out-fire/702060/6 "2014-10-21T19:45:32Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > “You said a rattlesnake, right?” “Yes, and a soup of the day.” ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-be-more-discrete-i-dunno-yell-out-fire/702060/7 "2014-10-21T20:46:35Z")
Maybe it was a radioactive rattlesnake. You could have, like, _doubled_ your powers! ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-be-more-discrete-i-dunno-yell-out-fire/702060/8 "2014-10-21T21:00:42Z")
How much awesomeness…& humility does one guy need? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-be-more-discrete-i-dunno-yell-out-fire/702060/9 "2014-10-21T21:05:09Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Nitpick: The word you’re looking for is “discreet”, not “discrete”. Same pronunciation, different meanings. Don’t mean to be a grammar Nazi, but that’s one of my few pet peeves. That is not being a grammar Nazi; that is being a semantic Nazi. Or possibly a spelling Nazi. They were the worst of all. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-be-more-discrete-i-dunno-yell-out-fire/702060/10 "2014-10-21T21:12:30Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Nitpick: The word you’re looking for is “discreet”, not “discrete”. Or maybe he just hates people who are continuous. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-be-more-discrete-i-dunno-yell-out-fire/702060/11 "2014-10-21T21:28:13Z")
As the Archdeacon said to Quasimodo, “Do any of these ring a bell?” [http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/snakesid/rattlesnakes.html](http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/snakesid/rattlesnakes.html) ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-be-more-discrete-i-dunno-yell-out-fire/702060/12 "2014-10-21T22:45:01Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > “Yes, and a soup of the day.” I’m pretty sure the punchline goes “Don’t shout, all the other customers will want one too.”