What did you say?

I realize I speak with an accent, but then most people do. It doesn't matter where you are from or where you live, you speak kind of funny to someone. And depending on the accent, your domicile or ancestry is known right off the bat, usually. Years ago I worked for a chemical and dye company who had in their employ several people not born here in the United States. I thought I was pretty good about detecting accents, but this one guy when he spoke, I thought I knew where he was from. Then he would say something that would throw me completely off. I found out later that he was from Austria and learned to speak English from a Mississippi black man. Can you imagine what he would have sounded like if he had moved to Louisiana instead and learned to speak English from a Cajun? German. French, Southern, Creole and you name it. Our country like everyone else's, we have different accents from different regions. What sounds the same to us in Spanish, a person from Mexico, Spain or Cuba could tell you what country and what area they're from. But does it really matter where we come from? No. We all speak the same language when it comes to what's important. Love in our homes, kindness to everyone, respect for others and peace in this life. It starts in the home, it starts with you and I. Can we focus on what we say rather than how we say it pretty please? Our rising generations need to know how to speak with others. Through kindness, love and respect, it's the universal language. Pass it on.