Honestly, I was petrified of snakes up until very recently. My fiance had a ball python, and I wouldnt go in the same room with it. I held him once on my own before he died and the idea of getting another one was only appealing because it would make him happy. Ironicly enough I was the one who saw my little girl at the pet store and begged to get that one specifically XDD.

Even when I was scared of them though(which that fear is LONG gone )
I never wished harm on them. I just didnt want to be around them. Some people just think because a snake can get six feed long it will turn into a bloodthirsty monster and swallow your kids. Unfortunately because of all the demonization snakes have experienced in, the christian cultures more than any other, people just wont accept them. I actually know a woman who considers snakes the incarnation of satan and goes out of her way to run them over with her car if she sees one on the street. You need to really experience what having a snake as a pet is like in order to feel what we feel for them I guess.

Id say your best best is to grin and bear it. It sucks, but no amount of talking will change a stubborn preconception. And getting mad will only push the ignorant further away. Im really sorry youre meeting so much opposition = (