Talking Loud and Proud

Yesterday, my oldest friend, The A, came down to visit us here at Grandma and Granddad's. She's got two little people too so, of course, off we went to the pub with the whacking great play area. (Amen, alleluia!)

When you get the two of us together, it's a major talk fest. We babble, we laugh, we talk, we talk, we talk. We talked up a storm as we waited in line to order at the bar, we talked even more as we got the kids signed up in the play area (amen, alleluia!), and we talked even more as we sat feeding the babies at the table.

It never occurred to me that anyone else in the pub would find us remotely interesting. Possibly loud and annoying, but other than that...

I had noticed out of the corner of my eye that the woman who was supervising the play area was lingering by our table. When I finally made eye contact with her, it was if the floodgates had opened.

"You know, I was just asking your son if he came from America. He said no, he comes from France. But I think you're Americans, right? I have an aunt who lives in America. I love your accents. Why on earth are you in England?"

The A and I answered her questions and had a laugh about the two of us, friends from grade school being married to Brits and living over here. All the good stuff about irony, fate, and just the coolness of life, in our opinion.

After she headed back to the play area, we started chatting away again.

At that point, I hadn't noticed the young couple at the table behind us. It was only when they started staring that I got a little self conscious. Was there ketchup on my face? Were they horrified that I ate all that was left over on the kids plates? Worst, could they be relatives I'm supposed to have remembered?!?

"Excuse me. You're not from America, are you?"

"Yes," The A and I responded with a laugh. And so began round two of the "what-on-earth-are-you-doing-here-and-I-love-your-accent conversation."

If I really reflect on it, it must be strange in this part of England to hear American accents. Stranger still to hear two women babbling away about dummies, nappies, prams and pushchairs in American accents.

Both The A and I have been attention seekers our whole lives and this accent thing is right up our alley. It's fun being asked questions about America and what our connection is to England.

I love that. I thrive off stuff like that. If I'm totally honest, I just like being the center of attention and a minor celebrity in the pub with the whacking great play area!