About a decade back.....

by RayLee, Monday, November 02, 2026, 18:16 (18 hours, 10 minutes ago) @ JimT

we were invited to a high dollar wedding soiree at a high-faluting resort about 230 miles eastward. It was the first time that I had ever heard of a "no children allowed" event. That caveat greatly caused a great rift in the family(s) so I scented dramatic discussions escalating into ugliness fueled by champagne & cocktails and decided to stay home.

The bridegroom's half-brothers and several cousins and other kin....somewheres between a dozen and a score of them were peace officers and jailers of various sorts and felt obligated to be armed despite the fact that they planned to get their snoots full on free beverages. Then a hysteric feminine voice screamed "snake" ! They rushed towards the frantic hubbub to find a giant snake of the nonvenomous king or indigo or coachwhip variety trapped by about the middle of its length in a conduit/piping knockout of a hvac unit for one of the resort's rooms.

No one ever kenned just who shot first or even just how many fired or the total number of rounds expended but the hvac unit was riddled by .40 & 9mm and quite a few passed through it and the wall into the room. The snake was unhurt by the projectiles but managed to cut itself into whilst writhing against the sharp-edged hole that trapped it. Obviously the local law was summoned and arrests were made but we never heard of the judicial outcomes. The "nephew" bridegroom (first cousin once removed) had to pay for damages above the already exorbitant cost but the bride's wealthy father (atlanta television weatherman) actually was bankrolling it all.

Like I said, all this was hearsay scuttlebutt to me as I wisely stayed home but if I had been there I could have responded in an efficient and safe manner with a mini .22 5-shot revolver with the first two chambers loaded with blue capsules.