No, I don't have an accent...

Often, the lessons we are taught as children come back to haunt us. In 1992, I was visiting Detroit with my boyfriend. The early lesson of looking both ways had apparently slipped his mind just long enough for us to pull out in front of a truck and I got the good fortune of experiencing emergency medical care in Michigan. I awoke to a nurse asking questions –

“What is today’s date?”
“May 7th”
“Who is the President?”
“Bush”
“Where were you born?”
“Atlanta.”
“Where is your accent?”

The southern accent found in Gone with the Wind is still around – I just never caught it. Through the years, I’ve been questioned repeatedly about being from the South and not having a southern accent. I’ve never been quite sure how to respond. Most commonly, my smart-ass side answers and minutes later, I regret those responses. And, in this case, my response was, “I must have left it in the car.” Now, I ask you, put yourself in my place…you are in a distant state, have broken bones, a concussion, stitches and a catheter – is your accent really the utmost of your concerns?

At any rate, if I did have an accent, I’d be treated like my IQ was about 30 points lower and I had 5 kids while in high school (the assumed ultimate level for my family’s education). This all goes back to the stereotypes – a little known fact: Not all idiots speak with a southern accent and not all people with southern accents are idiots. Much of this misconception is perpetuated by southerners, I know. For some ungodly reason, our camera crews seek out the most stereotypical person to explain the trailer home fire and the tornado…it’s like a train wreck – you can’t stop yourself from watching it, but you know it’s going to be ugly. And, it’s just not that often that our world-renowned heart surgeons get out of the OR to discuss the future of cardio health.

Sadly, the educated among us are also the ones who feel a lesser need to be in front of the camera to yell, “hey mama!” or “hey, y’all, watch this!” (often noted as last words). We sit back and shake our heads, awaiting the predictable response and the continued belief all southerners are idiots.