I was out at an install today (those who don't know I am a Sign Installer, ask me later and I'll try and explain), and was talking to one of the underlings of the person I was supposed to meet. As she was trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing (I already knew what I was supposed to do, but they don't want to listen to the sign monkey), She finally told me what trucks I needed to work on.

I said to her, "Ok, so those two trucks that have no decals on them(just humoring her, it was pretty obvious which ones needed decals), well ya'll have all the leftover decals from the time we did the 20 other trucks, so I'll need those."

And she says, "'Ya'll' huh? I don't know anything about the decals, I'll go check."

So I walk back into the lobby, and she walks past and says, "I'll be right back. Where are you from?" I said, "America's Instant Signs." Thinking she needed to know what company I was with, typical question. She says, "No, like what state were you raised in? Why do you say 'Ya'll'?"

That kinda flustered me... I dunno why I say "ya'll", I was born and raised in Long Beach, CA. Just about as far away from the country one can get, and yet some of the words I use are very much not "SoCal lingo". Like some times I'll say "woursher" instead of "washer" or "'wourshing machine", or "couple three" instead of just three.

I can speak normally(if you think what I say is normal in the first place). I can say "The washer is done washing the washables, I'll put more washables in for washing.", I can say "You all need to stand here", or "Can I have three days off work in August?". My parents are from the mid-west, but moved out here when they were middle school aged. You hear a little bit from them, mostly dad, but I think I may use it a bit more than them.

Is it bad to talk like this? Does it make one sound "slow" or "dimwitted" or even just "plain lazy" for not attempting to pronounce the words correctly. Everyone knows I'm the first person to hassle someone for misspeaking. Its all in good fun though. Should I try and stop? Would I even be able to stop? Or would stopping be me denying where my family has come from? Would that be trying to distance myself from the mid-west in which my grandparents were raised?

I'm not embarrassed of my family, or where we come from. Dad's side is part Russian, part Swedish, living in Missouri, moving to California. My grandpa explained it to my dad in a great way when he was growing up.

Your quarter Russian, quarter Swedish, and all the rest is poor white trash from the south.

And my dad was proud as can be with that explanation. And I like it to...

Mom's side is... who knows a little bit of this a little of that, in know some Irish is in there, I looked it up. My grandpas great, great, great grandpa(follow the Clark line) was born in Ireland. So there my red headed sisters. You can no longer say you are not any part Irish. The green eyes and red hair had to come from somewhere. I wonder if he fought in the Revolutionary War. He lived forever too... 88 years... basically the same age as my grandpa when he died.

So anyways... I don't think I'll stop. If you don't like it, tell me, then get over it. There are more important things to worry about.

Like the coming onslaught of killer ladybugs. They eat babies you know... Think about it.