Snakes

[karitaru]

Hi, there. It's been a while since I posted here last.
I came across the following paragraph in the story "All You Zombies," by "Robert A. Heinlein."

I checked in with the duty officer and went to my quarters, intending to sleep for a week. I had fetched the bottle we bet (after all, I won it) and took a drink before I wrote my report. It tasted foul, and I wondered why I had ever liked Old Underwear. But it was better than nothing; I don’t like to be cold sober, I think too much. But I don’t really hit the bottle either; other people have snakes—I have people.

For the life of me, I have no idea what the bolded sentence mean. "Other people have snakes—I have people."
I thought maybe snakes is a form of a drink, but it still doesn't make sense.
I appreciate any input.

 

[Skrej]

It's reference to the idiom 'seeing snakes' - hallucinations from heavy drinking or the withdrawal afterwards.

However, instead of having visions of snakes, he sees visions of people - i.e. ghosts that haunt his memories.

Since it's a story about time traveling and multiple versions of himself, it's possible the ghosts are alternate images of himself.

 

[karitaru]

Many thanks.
This actually makes sense.