Everybody likes accents. Whether you've got some strange attraction to the R-free Boston accent or the more dulcet tones of an Australian, we've all got some particular combination of pronunciations and inflections that send shivers up our spines.

I've never heard someone rave over the beauty of the clipped syllables of Japanese-accented English, but to hear someone express their joy at an English, Scottish or Irish accent isn't the least bit unusual. The company I work for operates on a national level, but we mostly deal with New York callers, which means we get a lot of immigrants or children of immigrants. Today Lisa picked up the phone and was greeted by an Irishman named Patrick.

Lisa has a habit of muddling up information, so I often keep one ear open when she's on the phone just in case there's a serious discrepancy (after all, people only come to us because they need things to get/keep their job). So when she spoke to Patrick, she mentioned how she loved Irish accents. For some people this might have led to a comment on a favorite actor, musician or maybe even something about the Irish Tenors. Where did Lisa take it? That's right, the old 'Irish Spring' soap commercials.

Having lived abroad I know how frustrating it can be when someone seizes on a single aspect of a culture one is connected to and expand it to encompass their entire judgement of who you are. I imagine it's even more maddening to be connected to something as inconsequential as a brand of bar soap, one which probably had no actual connection to Ireland.