Similar thing happened to me in real life when I visited the US to see my then GF.  She lived in OKC.

Now, over here I'm known for having clear and reasonably precise diction.  Despite having a definite Sheffield accent (think Sean Bean) nobody has trouble understanding me.

Until I went there.  Even the voice activated baggage system (my bags went AWOL from Chicago) couldn't understand me.  Had to pass the phone to my GF.

Phone conversations with some of my Stateside buddies can be an exercise in frustration at times, too.  A good friend who lives in Bayou country understands about one word in 3.

One thing I never got tired of, though; it was easy to make friends with complete strangers as soon as they heard me speak.  Everyone went out of their way to be nice to me.

For the record, my bags and I were reunited the next day.  My GF and I went our separate ways a year or so later.

Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.

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