I absolutely remember. I can't speak for others but my first ball python changed my life...
My first was really my ex wife's snake. He was a 300gram orange ghost we bought. I was pissed off because I didn't see the point on spending 500 bucks on a snake and 300 on an emclosure. I remember thinking he was cool but my gf couldn't deal with the rats and I was forced to feed him, which took some getting over the heart break of throwing a cute little rat pup in his tank.
It took me about 2 weeks and I was absolutely hooked. A year later I had a wall of snake racks and a couple dozen rat colonies.
Changed my life....