Why are you wearing a pepper?

One of the reasons for this blog is to dispel many of the Italian and Italian-American myths. It is troubling to me, therefore, when I fulfill some of the more common or even more crass stereotypes. Yes, I talk with my hands, and I have been known to greet someone with a “Hey, how ya’ doin,” although not as suggestively as Joey Tribbiani. What can I say? Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.