Little Deli & Pizzeria – Austin, Texas
In the 1973 Woody Allen movie”Sleeper,” the neurotic comedian, writer, actor, and film director declaimed, “I believe there’s an intelligence to the universe, with the exception of certain parts of New Jersey.” Comedian George Carlin pounced on New Jersey’s license plate, deriding the “Garden State” sobriquet, expressing that it should be “The Tollbooth State.” In response to his son-in-law Michael “Meathead” Stivic’s “I hate Jersey” comment, Archie Bunker declared “Everybody hates Jersey! But somebody’s gotta live there.” New Jersey is the Rodney Dangerfield among the fifty states. It gets no respect, especially when compared with its nextdoor neighbor New York. Perceptions among some outsiders is that the population of New Jersey is replete with Italian-American Mafia types like Tony Soprano. Others perceive as accurate the unwatchable MTV “reality” television series Jersey Shore which perpetuates Italian-American stereotypes of New Jerseyans. Its gratuitous use of the ethnic slurs “guido” and “guidette” are an affront to every good and decent resident of the state. Admittedly I haven’t spent much time in New Jersey. My first visit was just long enough to qualify on the M16 rifle before the Air Force sent me to RAF Upper Heyford, England. Would you consider it boasting if…
