Ah… the Milano.

It has been long since anyone asked his story. He is not from Milan: for then he would be the Milanese. Instead he uses the city to inspire his accent, his moustache, his taste for shirts striped like those of the gondoliers.

You say those are in Venice?

The Milano probably does not know that.

Nevertheless–the next time you see a man ordering his coffee en italiano, a man angrily declaring he is no mime, a man sour and sallow of face–look closely. Is his moustache just slightly the wrong color?

Yes?

It is the Milano!