Guilty Pleasures #2 - Swooning over Accents

I am Canadian and proud of it eh. I love to wear all my glorious shirts, socks, hats, mitts and jackets that valiantly display Canadian leaves, beavers, moose or Mounties. But…you knew there was going to be a but here…I am a sucker for the USA Southern accent and my Guilty Pleasure this week is me admitting that I melt into a puddle of goo whenever I hear a “y’all”, “yes, ma’am”, “Darlin’” or let’s face it, basically any phrase voiced by a sweet Southern drawl. 

When did my love of the USA South begin? Waaaay back (sometime after the dinosaurs roamed the Earth but before Kindles) when I was a little girl, my family used to drive from Canada to Florida at least once a year. As soon as we travelled just passed Ohio, wherever we would stop for gas or a restaurant I would be eager to look for an excuse to have a Southerner talk to me. All of sudden this shy girl (yes at one point in my life I was shy) wanted to talk to strangers. You see, I also found the folks from the South much more friendlier and willing to talk to a little kid like I was. They were more laid back and smiled a lot.

Let’s jump ahead to present day.

My love for the Southern accents hasn’t diminished at all. I also need to make it clear; I don’t just swoon over the sweet drawl of men’s voices. No siree Bob.  In fact, I have a You Tube video of author Keri Ford’s reading from her awesome book "In the Hay” (reviewed on my site BTW) saved as one of my internet favourites just so I can hear her sweet voice. Isn’t she just adorable? I sort laundry and listen to Keri talk to me.

I went to Charleston, South Carolina last year and made a stop at an American institution “Waffle House” *squee* and the nicest sweetest gentleman waiter gave into my begging  request with a compliant “Yes ma’am” to give me this little video bit so that I can go back and reflect when the mood strikes me. (incidentally it has been made very clear to me by many many folks of the South that this is not a daily saying)

I have close friends in the South and whenever I send flowers or candies, do I order over the internet? Nope. I phone long distance to a store in the Deep South just so I can hear that drawl. I even make the conversation span out longer than it needs to be just so I can have a little more Southern time. Course that’s easy to do because whomever I get on the other end, loves to talk and share all kinds of stories with me too.

Now here’s the kicker. As much as I love the accents, I admit to not understanding them half the time. When I’m in doubt I tend to smile, laugh and nod my head when someone with an especially thick drawl talks to me. This action does nothing to represent the smart people of my country. Picture if you will someone from Arkansas asking me where I’m from and I give them a big smile, nod my head ‘yes’ (like I know what they’re saying) and follow up with giggle. I am sure they walk away thinking Canadians are daft. I confuse words like pool with pole and I have to hesitate to answer questions while my little brain tries to process the sentence and translate it for me.  Why just this past weekend at the Lori Foster Reader/Writer convention I was asked by someone with a delightful accent if I was going to the next convention. I responded something like, “Getting ready for the long drive and crossing the border.” She stared at me blankly until my good friend translated. (The nice lady drove away thinking ‘daft Canadian’ I just know it)

Now for those who personally know me, you know I don’t do kitchen. I suck. Well now I have the video to prove it. You see in my efforts to embrace the South and all things Southern, I wanted to make their famous Sweet Tea at home. Here's a video that my son and I put together this past fall to demonstrate my efforts of trying this difficult task. I researched on the internet and everything on how to make Sweet Tea. This is what we came up with…

If you do a Guilty Pleasure Post please leave your link in my comments so I can play along and read it as wel. I really really love reading them.