People say the darnedest things...

So, I love my job. Absolutely love it. Like any job, it has its down days and its ups. But all in all, I love my job. Which used to really irk my husband because when I first started training to work at the 911 center, he swore up and down that I would hate it. I guess he's accepted it now. Two years later.

Well, I had a guy tell me today that he broke his nut while trying to change his tire. Was everything I could do to keep the donkey-bray laugh to myself while I got him some help.

And he was sober.

And dead serious.

And never realized how hilarious what he just said was.

Has that ever happened to you? I don't remember saying something quite that funny. At least not recently. But I'm always saying something goofy. I think I'm just that kind of person. If you don't know me you'd probably never believe I was a fairly intelligent and well-educated female. Saying something semi-retarded causes it. But most people don't know what to think when I say something coherent and intelligent. The southern accent really throws them.

I remember the first time that I really LEFT the South. My freshman year of college on Spring Break me and some friends flew to San Diego and spent a few days. Everyone there couldn't get enough of our accents. And they thought mine was the strongest. Which I took as a compliment. Because I am proud to be a Southerner. But I never really thought I had much of an accent before that.

I love the way people around here talk. Sometimes, I admit, it is incredibly hick. Some people sound just...dumb...when they open their mouths. And a lot of times, its because they really are. But I love southern accents. I've always been really fascinated by language and how people say what they say falls under that.

The English language has a very interesting history. One which I studied at great lengths while obtaining my English degree. (A degree which is in a box somewhere in my basement these days...not that the stupid thing is doing me a lot of good. Except I can always spell things like "schizophrenic" when I need to for work. I guess that's helpful.) It's a history I have been happy to bore people with if they will sit still long enough when the topic has come up.

How did I get off on this tangent?

Ah yes, accents. What people say. While I love a lot of accents, I absolutely cannot stand others. Boston accents. Oh em gee. Boston accents kill me. They're like nails on a chalk board. Cannot. Stand. It. No offense to any Bostoners. French accents kinda irk me too.

Being from California, my husband had no accent when we met. Even though he had spent more than half of his life south of the Mason Dixon line, he managed to not say things like "ain't" or "y'all." He spoke clear, concise English. Three years after moving to my home town with me, he can pull of a Southern accent with the best of them. I hear him talking to clerks in stores and he sounds like he's lived here all his life. I think it's adorable. He just laughs when I point it out.

I'm just really hoping my kids have my accent. Otherwise I'm going to look like the dumb one of the bunch. Which, as the matriarch seems rather unfair.