I'm from Missouri. I was 30 years old when somebody pointed out to me that I pronounce the e's and i's in pen, pin, and dentist identically (and that others don

I'm from Missouri. I was 30 years old when somebody pointed out to me that I pronounce the e's and i's in pen, pin, and dentist identically (and that others don't). It really blew my mind that I had been doing something so obvious for so long without ever realizing it. What else about my speech (or, more scary, my morals) is so deeply ingrained that I don't even notice it? (Like the fish who asks, "What the hell is water?") https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/this-is-water https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/this-is-water