It would have been even better if you left 1 cent as the tip. That way the waiter knows that you didn't just forget! For once, I agree with you. Has anyone here STUDIED phonetics? I have. From a woman who I thought was from NYC, except that she said "sense" like a cotton fed southerner. The only word I heard her speak un-phonetically. Was she from here? No. Was she from the south? No. She was from Dijon, France. She spoke with NO accent. Proper phonetics, period. There are people who can differentiate the accent between each borough. I can't, but I know people who can. If you don't know people who can, that's a different story. But you certainly can't say it's impossible. I also don't think it's a class thing, because the poor people in my school spoke exactly like the incredibly wealthy people. And that ranged from school to school to school in my experience. But we always knew when someone was taking the train or bus from one of the other boroughs or Jersey. And I didn't say NO accent, I said little to no accent. There's a difference. Pan, I'm just going to have to say it. You probably have little to no accent. People have thought I am from England too. Do I say cahn't? Never. That's affected as well. Do I speak with a brittish accent otherwise? Not at all. Most brits you can tell are from England. Some you can't. Again, it's phonetics. And by the way, I may have passed you at Dan yesterday. I rode my bike past a few times.