Readers of the Boston Globe are becoming used to seeing Roland Merullo's Monday column. At least this reader. I eagerly turned to the op-ed page today and there, again, Roland holding forth in his humorous way, today about accents. When I first met Roland, I was impressed that he had not ironed out his heavy Boston accent. Writers with aspirations (and affectations) often replace ahhs with rs. Not Roland. He's from Reveeyuh (Revere) and I revere him for holding fast to his identity (another version of holding the pose).
A couple of weeks ago I sat in on a virtual team training where there were people from at least four countries - maybe more, we didn't take a poll. One Spanish-speaking native apologized for his accent, said he was trying to improve it. Instantly - more accurately, without thinking - I said, "Don't! Never give up your accent."
This one hits home for me. My father, Marvin Lipnack (originally Lipniak), spoke Yiddish first, learning English in first grade in a public school on New York's Lower East Side. For years he stuttered and when his 9th grade teacher made fun of him, he ran out of school and never returned, finally getting his high school diploma via GED when he was 29.
So, my friends, whatever your accent, wherever you're from, speak like the person you are. Be like Roland.
