Accented English

[Rachel Bray]

What I hate is going home for a long weekend and people 
making fun of the way I speak. "Oh, there she goes, talkin' 
in her snobby voice."  Then when I return my friends here 
say "Wow....I can tell you've been home a bit too long, you 
hillbilly!"

Or, when I'm really tired I slip a bit and I get "Geez, 
Rachel.  You sound like you just got back from the farm, 
you redneck!"

When I was in England I was asked if I was from a New 
England state.  When I said Ohio they were shocked.  I am 
guessing they thought Ohio would sound more southern.  But 
Northern Ohioans used to ask me if I was from Virginia or 
Kentucky.  And now Southern Ohioans I meet are shocked that 
I grew up on the Ohio River.

I just can't win.

By the way, one of the most endearing things about my 
Aussie friends is how they always say my name before a 
question.  Even if I'm the only other person in the room so 
it would be obvious that they were speaking to me.

Rachel Bray
The Ohio State University
Fees, Deposits and Disbursements


Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me....I wish 
none of this had happened.

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that 
is not for them to decide.  All we have to decide is 
what to do with the time that is given us.