It's amazing how you can tell the subtle differences between people from different regions of the same area. The train station I use in Boston (North Station) couldn't extend more than a 100 mile radius from Boston itself, and yet the people getting on the train to Newburyport can be distinguished from the people getting on the train to Lowell, or any other train for that matter. They dress, look, and have a similar general persona to them depending on where they're from.
How unique is one person from another? How much are we the same? If I can notice subtle differences between people living a few hundred miles from each other, then how entirely different are people living ten thousand miles apart? And I'm not just talking about appearance and social behavior, but biologically too. Different climates, diets, and daily routines create entirely different human beings. We digest food differently, we have different allergies, our skin reacts differently to the sun, we tolerate different bacteria and virus infections, and even our brains develop differently. You could almost say one human is alien to another human on the opposite side of the planet!
Yep… There’s one guy from Maine at the house this weekend, he talks funny. And then there’s 2 guys from Massachusets and they talk even funnier.
The one guy is closer to Boston while the other is a few miles from ya’ll there. Next year, just pile in his truck for Labor Day Weekend and visit. Little short on beds, but I have a blow-up mattress or a tent in the backyard. And tons of Asian food this weekend. Guy from Maine; wifey is Vietnamese.
But you are correct, it’s not just the accent, but you can tell the difference in many ways besides appearance and behavior.
We don’t talk funny in Massachusetts! We talk the American way!