One of the first things people say to me after learning that I grew up in Alabama is, "You don't have a Southern accent." I tried to lose the accent on purpose after I got here, because, as I generally explain, people tend to look down on you when you speak that way, and I didn't want to hear any more jokes about inbreeding and outhouses than I already heard growing up. But also, as I grew up in the South I fought to avoid picking up the accent. I watched a lot of TV and quickly decided the accent wasn't for me.

However, most of my friends and family embraced the accent. When my mom and sister came to visit in July, my sister was at a shop in Santa Monica and decided to try to keep silent as she made a purchase. The cashier said, "Well, you're not very talkative. Is something wrong?" She answered, "I'm just tired." Bing. That gave it away. He promptly responded with the usual question, "Where are you from?" I guess it doesn't help that much like I once did, she pronounces "tired" a bit closer to "tarred." Those vowel sounds always give us Southerners away.