Every once in a while the Dear Abby column in the local paper is an attention getter. And a column in late May was one of them.
Seems that some poor soul residing in Laguna Beach, California, had relatives visiting from the South. And, heaven forbid, they spoke with a Southern accent. "They come across sounding like hicks and buffoons." Keeping-it-real-in-Laguna-Beach was mortified that someone might hear them and arrive at a guilt by association conclusion.
Dear Abby doled out some sensible advice:
The best advice I can offer would be for you to grow a thicker skin and, if that doesn't work, spend less time with your relatives. With your attitude, you'll be doing them a favor.
Yeah, I'm sure the Southern relatives were equally embarrassed about Keeping-it-real who probably kept an ear glued to progressive radio. Talk show host Stephanie Miller slams conservatives all the time on her radio show, and the morning I listened to it last April she used an exaggerated Southern accent to espouse some ridiculous principle she claimed was true of fiscal conservatives. It was a rude gesture, but she's not out to win converts, she knows her audience, and the cruel ridicule maintains conformity.
The advice seeker in Laguna Beach needs to broaden his/her horizons.
But wait. What's this? Is the Southern accent dying? How new research shows upper and middle classes are losing their drawl.
Well shut my mouth. Maybe the accent is going away -- everyone may all end up sounding alike, homogenized like milk. An element of culture would surely be missing.
Meantime, y'all come back now, heah?
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