Language Issues in Middle Tennessee

It was very common in Luxembourg to hear voice mail messages in more than one language. For example, if you made a mistake while making a telephone call, a voice would say in French that the number you tried to call hadn't been assigned, then the voice would say it again in German, and then again in English. Some recorded messages had Portuguese in the mix also.

Some places in the States give you a choice between English and Spanish, like at the ATM or the credit card machines at Wal-Mart. I really don't think much about that anymore because it always defaults to English.

But I ran across something different here. A couple of weeks ago, I called our phone company because I was having some trouble with my DSL box. A message plays in perfect English --- "Your call is very important to us. Please stay on the line for the next available support person. Your call may be monitored for training and quality purposes." Then another message plays, recorded by a man with a much lower voice than the first man, and he says the **exact** same words, but with a Middle Tennessee accent. Most of the time when I have to call tech support, I'm not in the best of moods, but hearing them translate the opening message into both Yankee and Middle Tennessee always makes me smile.

I haven't been talking to strangers much lately, which is very unusual for me, and I think I finally figured it out---I don't know what language to use. I was at one time quite fluent in East Tennessee, and I think if I just slowed it down some, then it would be pretty close to what they speak in Middle Tennessee. But I'm a bit out of practice since I've been using mostly my Yankee accent at work and around Darin. (Though close friends know that my East Tennessee starts creeping back in when I get tired.)

So if I meet someone new and I'm with Darin, do I speak Yankee so he'll understand, or do I try to speak Tennessee so the stranger will understand me better? I just never know what to do.

When I switch between the two in a short space of time, I risk being made fun of by my husband. I feel like I need to pick a language and just stick with it.

The side effect of my indecision is that Darin has turned into the outgoing type of person lately. I suppose I had been enabling him to be shy all these years, and now that I've stopped talking, he has to talk. My mother loves to tell the story that when I was four and my brother was two, my parents were starting to worry about him because he didn't talk. Then my parents sent me to my grandparents, and my brother started talking in complete sentences immediately. He just couldn't get a word in edgewise before. I suppose I was doing the same thing to Darin. I did always think that Darin and my brother had a lot in common.

I s'pose this typin' is right good nuff for now. I'd best be gettin' on to bed.