"Love That Accent of Yours"

Seems like customer service representatives are now taught to say "Love your accent" or "Your accent is so sweet" when they don't actually understand what the person on the other side is saying and have to ask them to repeat the word. This is an euphemistic way of saying "You have a weird accent and I do not understand it". I hate when they say that and the next time somebody utters those words to me, I will let them know how fake they really sound.
I come from a different background and completely understand if anyone doesn't understand certain words, the way I pronounce them. But Indians are one of the better English speakers in the world and even though there may be an accent, the bottom line is that our education background is British and we have more British pronunciations. There is a difference between pronouncing words differently and having a heavy accent.
If the representative just politely asks me to repeat what I said, I do not have a problem with that. I do not expect them to understand everything I say especially when they cannot see my face. Don't give me the fake attitude. I can handle the fact that my accent is different from yours but it is in no way inferior. Even the various regions of United States have different accents and there is nothing wrong with that. That is called diversity.
So to all you trainers of customer service people, please just be genuine and polite. That should be enough.

P.S. While searching for some accent related stuff on the Internet I came across this. Similar experience as me and that too in NC.

Spa, Grilling and Poker

My long weekend started off well. My dear husband gave me a birthday gift to a spa so finally I went to one. I had never been to a spa before and never had a massage. It was a good experience. I got a massage, facial and manicure-pedicure. Sitting on a chair for almost 10 hours a day definitely tightened my back muscles. Wish I could just ask my husband to give me a massage once in while and save some $$$.

In the evening we had a barbecue party at our place. We just bought a new grill and were trying it out for the first time. We grilled some chicken and paneer. Paneer is also called cottage cheese but it is more in a block like tofu and not like the one you get in grocery stores. It is generally available in Indian grocery stores. Later we played Poker for about three hours and I won a lot. It surely was fun for me.

Today, I have been on the computer trying to write up essays for my MBA application. Its a pain and I do not have much time. Hope to hit a few holes in mini-golf in the evening.

So far the weekend has been going pretty good. Since we moved here, we have been doing a lot more, hence I am more active here too.