From Way Down South

This weekend, I spent a two days in Boston with some of my friends. One of my friends brought her roommate with her. Her roommate is from the South, originally from Louisiana and currently living in Mississippi (well, when she is not at college). She was really fun, not only to be around, but to listen too. It is interesting how different our perceptions of certain people can actually be from reality. I have always though that a southern accent would drive me absolutely crazy because of both the different accent and the drawl, the way people from the South tend to speak slower. When my friend told me that her roommate was from Mississippi, I was a little reluctant to actually meet her. But, what I thought she would be like and what she was actually like, accent and speaking wise, were drastically different. She did have the southern accent, but it was not overbearing at all. In fact, it was really adorable. And the southern drawl that I was afraid of, was completely non-existent. We all have different ideas of how people from different regions sound. And these perceptions are not completely ridiculous because there are certainly people from the region who actually speak that way. But for each person who does fit the perception (and it is these people that the perceptions are based on) there is another person who does not fit. These are the people who make the language in this country so interesting to listen to, no matter what part of the country you happen to be in.