I have difficulty only with those who are 'wedded' to their accents and colloquialisms, and will not or can not slow down or adjust when strangers are trying to communicate & understand. My wife had the experience of being ignored in England when she asked for 'water' in a restaurant...and when she tried for the 3rd or 4th time, the waitress finally asked in a condescending manner.."oh, do you mean 'wahwtuh'? "or something like that...clearly suggesting that she KNEW what was wanted, but wished the stupid 'tourists' would learn to speak 'prowpuhly'. *grin*

Many accents are facinating, melodious and truly important to the culture...I just wish more people were aware of how....umm..*grin*...'different' they sound to the uninitated. I know I have a "Kansas twang" with remnants of starting school in the southern U.S....I wish I could mellow it a bit sometimes. I suspect that in a number of years, some accents will blur at the edges even more as travel and internet conversation become more common.

I always was impressed by Jean Redpath's ability to slip in & out of broad Scots...even to doing American 'Country & Western'...Jean even used to do a routine about waiting for a bus and mimicing a VERY fast, colloquial Scots regional accent where NO one in our audience could follow the details...

(in Germany there are a number or regional dialects and accents, but there is also 'Die Umgangsprache' or 'general language' which almost everyone could approximate when they traveled...similar to that used on the national news programs...kind of a handy thing)