Why snakes? Why not snakes?

I love all animals equally. I don't see why I should like a dog better then a snake, a snake better then a spider, a spider better then a rat, etc etc etc. Every animal is equal in my eyes.

The only reason I don't have anything furry and fuzzy is because of my father and our allergies to some pet hair. He isn't fond of reptiles, but; No hair in the carpets or anything, no spills around the house, no noise, etc. Dont get me wrong, I'd love to have a few pet rats and a king shepherd puppy, but snakes are the easiest thing for me to take care of for the time being.

One thing I barely tolerate when people ask this question though, is when they say it with the most ignorance and disgust they can. Drives me crazy. I always keep my cool though and just state my reasons and leave it there. If they keep going on with the ignorance and disgust after I politely ask them to stop I bring up the fact that more people get injured and sometimes die from more dog attacks then never (At least from what I've heard and researched) from a ball python, or I tell them to have an experience with a snake. If you haven't done anything with a snake except looked at them and go with what you hear on the news, how do you know you don't like them? Its like me and spiders. I use to be scared to death of them, but now I'm actually considering buying a starter tarantula to warm me up to them more. Even if it doesn't work out, at least I can say I tried.