The thing about American Southerners, Dennett (at least the ones I’ve known, like my college roommate, Ed), is that the accent comes and goes. Or gets worse. Like when Ed’s family came to visit, I’d be looking for subtitles to help with translation. Then they’d start talking to me and they’d be speaking “Northern.” OTOH, one time when I was home Ed called me for some reason; when I got off the phone, my sister gave me a strange look and asked, “So when did you start speaking with a Southern accent?” So maybe it’s contagious?