Popeye was right....

Early on in my career, I had a Division President take me into his office and tell me he thought I had a bright future with the company we were employed by, which was a food wholesaler and at the time the largest in the US and second largest in the world. I needed to be "willing to change" he said. "Of course", I immediately replied. In my mind I viewed his comment "willing to change" as possibly changing the way I approached problem solving, the way I prioritized my thinking concerning objectives, or maybe he meant willing to change location. "You need to spend time with a speech coach" he said. "I know you are intelligent, you have proven that with your steady progression through the ranks, and your work ethic is excellent" "However if I send you to the Midwest or the North to do projects for me that would undoubtedly include public speaking to large groups in the Distribution Centers, Boards of Directors of Retailers,....well...with the accent you now have...I don't know any other way to say this so I will just say it...they will look upon you as ignorant. Your accent makes you sound less than intelligent, at best." You don't have to give me an answer today", he said. I had a two hour drive home and all the way there I thought about what he had said pretty hard. I saw the opportunity in front of me and I realized the consequences of saying "No". You don't get promotions to corporate positions without a "sponsor" and this man was telling me he would be my "sponsor" At a small store near my house, I stopped to buy a beer, and when I put it on the counter I said "gimme five on regla too, ain't got enough gas to make it to the hoese" "Man you from Virginia" ain't you, the clerk quickly replied. "Yep, South Hill, I said smiling. "Sophia?" he asked. I suddenly realized I said "Southill" together as one word and I said it  so fast it did indeed sound like "Sophia" I also realized I said "dere" (there), "oat" (out) "doeg" (dog) "hoese" (house) and I could understand for the most part now what my boss was saying. I went home and "slept on it" and decided the next day that I was very proud of my "ignorance" I was who I wanted to be. I liked the fact that a man who had never seen me could hear me talk and know I was from Virginia. I told my boss the next day "I preciate what you offerin me but like Popeye says, "I am what I am and thats all what I am." "Reese", he said, I respect you for that, I don't think I could make that decision that easily, it's going to cost you dearly career wise". One of my co-workers got the job and it would take me close to ten years hard work and changing jobs to another grocery wholesaler before I was given a similar position. But...no longer than last week I was in Minneapolis, Minnesota when a man I was talking to said "you and Kevin are from the same place, you have to be, you both talk alike". Turns out he was right, Kevin was from Norfolk, Va. and works for MDV (one of our military divisions, we are the largest supplier of food to the military worldwide) I realized finally that I did the right thing years ago...now I'm going to take my doeg Oreo oat for a walk...he's tired of being cooped up in the hoese all day"