Accents

Imagine this conversation:

Customer: What is the Tuscan Style Breakfast?

Me: It is sauteed kale, topped with poached eggs and sprinkled with a bread crumb and hard cheese topping.

Customer: Sauteed cow?! What is that?

Me: No...Sauteed kale.

Customer: Cow?

Me: No, Kay-ail...sauteed...

Customer: Ahhh....Kale....

All day this conversation occurred. LIterally, not a single customer understood the way that I pronounced "kale".
And so, I figured, "Well, this is just a Southern/Northern thing", and in this way did I describe the confusion to the customers.

And it worked, and made sense.

Until I came across two ladies. one young, one middle aged, both hailing from New York. One was from New York, the other lived in Brooklyn, I tried out my usual line, unaware of their lineage.

And they looked at me oddly, saying, "But we're from New York."

Imagine another convesation:

A table sits quietly They are praying, saying grace before enjoying the lovely meal which I have just put before them. They finish with their prayer and I approach.

"is everything okay?' I ask.

"Yes," they tell me, and ask where I am from, sure that I am from Ireland. I assure them that I am from Jersey.

NEW Jersey.

And then imagine, TONIGHT:

I meet a guy from Jersey-- a young lady introduces us, exclaiming, "You're both from Jersey!"

"Where are you from," I ask him.

"Jersey," he replies. "But the new one. NEW Jersey."

"Me too," I tell him.

"But you're from where?' he asks. "South Africa?"

What is going on?