Language Barrier

On our drive home from Virginia, we stopped for a meal at a local fast food restaurant. I found a table and sat down after getting our food. John was still getting napkins and ketchup. Suddenly, a man to my right sitting on his own began talking to me. I did not catch what he said initially so I politely asked him to repeat himself. After he obliged, I realized with horror that I could not understand a word the man was saying. I proceeded to smile and nod and throw in the occasional "yeah." Finally John sat down across from me and joined the "conversation." But unlike me, John could understand every word. Apparently, the man was speaking English...although I am still hesitant to believe it. The conversation went a little bit like this:
Man: Berrhreedeerrhderreheeeerd!
John: Yes, I heard it was going to rain too! Let's hope so...it's been so dry lately.
Man: Brejheehehderr herrdeeederr?
John: I'm from Richmond.
Man: Brehend?
John: Yeah! It is quite a ways. I even remember when that area was called Shenandoah. A lot of history.
Man: Heederbeeder berberderr.
John: So are you from around here?
Man: Breehere der beeberdeeber!
John: My, that is a long time!
You get the picture. And picture the entire conversation with me on the sidelines drooling and completely lost in translation. But it got even better. Apparently I was the ONLY person in the entire establishment that had any trouble understanding the man. He greeted several other people that walked by (and I concluded he was a regular) and they had no trouble carrying on a conversation with him.
When we returned to the car, John asked if I had understood anything he had said. John has a knack for reading my facial expressions. This particular facial expression was probably close to "WTF?" He laughed when I admitted I had missed everything from "deeberberrederb" to "beeberderhje." He has still not let me live it down. So we have an understanding: I can understand most overseas accents. John can understand many accents as well as all American accents. Together...we are most likely unstoppable.

Photo: Unknown found via Spanish Translation.US