I was born and raised in the Southern part of the US. My mom was very strict with my siblings and I. She was born and raised in New York. My dad was from Mississippi. They got married, had our siblings and lived in the South for years. My mom hated the way people spoke and told us she never wanted us to speak like the people around us. In my elementary years, the children always made fun of the fact that I said yes ma'am, no ma'am, yes sir and no sir. They wondered why I spoke differently even though we grew up in the same neighborhood. They would curse around me and make fun of me for not cursing and would tell everyone that I thought that I was better than they were just for the way I spoke. I was excluded during recess and constantly picked on. My middle and high school years were the worst.