More patriotic but still uneasy to speak

LisaE that song gets me every single time too!  Couldn't you say you were this mysterious Mrs Williams a time or two?  I mean how do you know she doesn't say she's you from time to time! lol

Yeah, but what if she wasn't as cool as I?  

well see you'd be blaming all those little "mistakes" on her so ... why not?  [smiley=sneaky.gif]

If someone I'm not familiar with starts to go off on America I always ask them the same thing....."Have you ever been there?" If the answers "NO", then 9 times out of 10 thats enough to get them stumbling over their tongue trying to justify what they've just said and I then proceed to zone them out after telling them "Well it must be lovely then to know everything without first hand experience".  

This is absolutely the BEST come back I've ever heard!  I'm appropriating it for my own use!

I've had some nasty comments thrown at me - some of which I laugh off, but this one got me.  At one point, I asked if a high pitched whining noise that we all were hearing  was coming from the TV.  My fiance's aunt came back with "I thought that was just an american accent!"

Very f*cking funny.  I was actually too hurt by this to make a joke of it - and later on, when it was the two of us, said to her (rather stiffly) that I don't taunt her welsh accent, or anything else she has no control over...she suddenly realised how out of bounds she was, and was genuinely sorry.

I get really upset about some of this - I can't help where I was born any more than a black person can help being black - and if it was a comment about that, it'd be shocking.

I have recently stopped keeping my voice down in public, but as some other poster said - I also do find that I keep it quiet mostly only when I hear other americans.  I have no idea why - isn't that weird?

Very f*cking funny.  I was actually too hurt by this to make a joke of it - and later on, when it was the two of us, said to her (rather stiffly) that I don't taunt her welsh accent, or anything else she has no control over...she suddenly realised how out of bounds she was, and was genuinely sorry.

Its all in the delivery my dear, and it sounds as though you handled it quite well ........The Japanese have a wonderful saying that roughly translates to "The art of victory in warfare is knowing when to pick your battles"

Weired for lowering your voice when you hear another American?
You know what I find really wierd...I mean, wierd as in Twilight Zone wierd? The fact that we're all going through this, the same exact emotions, changes, reactions, etc. and yet come from very different parts of the US, are different ages, sex, races, etc. It can't be wierd, as in unusual, but I find it utterly fascinating.