Zephyra had been on another street corner listening to a discussion about lower ranks. She had sensed some disdain for those just like herself. Lower ranked. She really had to consider all that was being said but one person's tone made her wonder just how big of an ass they could be. So she set herself up to respond with a letter. A letter to those that may think they are better than herself or anyone like her.

Unraveling the letter, she reread it before she went to post it.

Dear Higher Ranks with Egos,

No I am not speaking to those leaders that value all of their members. I am also not speaking to those with respect for the lower ranks. This letter is specifically for those that feel those of us of low ranks are made to do whatever you think. From handing you all of our funds to wiping your feet.

I write to you to allow you time to think about this. Those of us of lower ranks in times of need are the ones most commonly asked upon to protect you high ranks. Are we so much lesser than you? I would think not. Giving up all we have worked for to see others saved is hardly something to brush aside.

We can (after some work) carry the same units. Maybe we will never be the exact same rank at the exact same time but our hard work is just like yours. We make money just as you do. We run errands for you. Some of us even tribute to see growth and prosperity without promises of a reward. Don't get me wrong, nothing is owed to you in life. Many would do to learn that lesson.

Our hard work is just as good as your own. We sweat and bleed in the same manner.

To those that seem to put prices on our heads, some of us can be the best members you may have. Sometimes we shine brighter than those high ranks. We are less burnt out, open to hard work to prove ourselves..

To those that think that we are less than them, please remember who it is that protects your life in war.

Remember that we are all not the same, just as the rest of you are not all the same. We are all made differently and everyone had to start from the bottom to get to the top.

Signed,

Under Made Man

Zephyra.

Placing the note on a bulletin board she tacks it up. She was not ashamed to be a low rank but she was absolutely devastated about the lack of respect for the people that are low rank and do work hard. The people that the higher ups will turn to if a war broke out. These people were relied on in hard times and quite often in good. They were needed just as the high ranks were.

With her thoughts roaming wildly she went to sit on a nearby bench.

"everyone had to start from the bottom to get to the top."

Why Zephyra, you have almost made my point for me - we all started from the bottom. Surely someone that has worked hard enough deserves the rewards they get after getting the button. After years of complaining that the Made Man promotion doesn't mean enough, has the tide of opinion in the streets turned towards believing that the button shouldn't be significant? I hope not. I love the fact that lower ranks aren't automatically thrown as much respect as higher ranks. Why? Personally, Zephyra, I believe that rank is enormously significant in La Cosa Nostra. 

Want to know how a mafioso gets the button? How they cease being a Wise Guy and gain some major kudos and respect in this world? Hard work. Achilles' brilliant speech a couple of days ago is an excellent piece of advice for any low ranker. You've got to put the needs of the family before your own if you want recognition in this thing of ours. If you're a low ranker and do that, then your crew leader would have no reason not to give you the button.

Heel was enjoying a quiet day in the office. There hadn't been anything out of the ordinary happening, so he had spent the day wondering which of Achilles' speeches would be misconstrued next and considering innovative new ways he could screw over the little guy. It was a taxing enterprise so he decided to take a jaunt outside to unwind. 

As he walked, letting the tension of the day escape his body with a hearty whistle, he noticed Zephyra placing a note on a bulletin board. She took a seat at a nearby bench with a face on her that suggested her thoughts were roaming wildly. Intrigued, Heel approached the note she had tacked up.

Dear Higher Ranks with Egos

'Ho hum', thought Heel as he continued reading, wondering if it was something he needed to tell big Pee Pee about.

No I am not speaking to those leaders that value all of their members. I am also not speaking to those with respect for the lower ranks. This letter is specifically for those that feel those of us of low ranks are made to do whatever you think. 

Heel sighed. Nothing to report to the boss here, she clearly wasn't talking about him. He resumed his stroll and thought about what he should cook Achilles for dinner. 

Utopia, I am glad that you feel I have made your point for you but you certainly have missed mine.

I am aware of how people get past Wise Guy and move into high ranks. I also hold some respect for higher ranks, except for those that feel they a right to treat the lower ranks like shit. There is a point where disrespect should not be tolerated for anyone. Not the higher ranks and certainly not the lower ones.

I will agree that Achilles made some good points, however the tone towards the lower ranks was definitely something worth bringing up. I get the hard work that is put in for some. You certainly cannot believe that EVERYONE has worked for their button, because my line's journal could point out those who have done naught but be someones other world bestie. This is the life we lead. Nothing is fair in this world or any other I would imagine.

However, I am sure you will note that not everyone has the same set of standards. Some may have them and not follow through, others have them and stand by them. So just because someone has a Made Man button in one spot, doesn't mean they would hack it in another organization. As I said before not everyone is the same.

Utopia, I am glad that you feel I have made your point for you but you certainly have missed mine. 

Yes, I admit I couldn't really see the point to your letter. 

You certainly cannot believe that EVERYONE has worked for their button 

Of course not. I'd like them to. That's why I go around saying that all low rankers should put the good of the family before their own before they are even considered for the button. Then they will have worked for the button.

 however the tone towards the lower ranks was definitely something worth bringing up

This isn't really the right place to discuss another speech - but what the heck. The criticism in the speech wasn't towards low rankers in general, it was towards low rankers who value their own wants and greed over the good of their family and peers - who are a mafioso's true source of safety. That's not what the mafia is about. 

However, I am sure you will note that not everyone has the same set of standards.

A great set of universal standards would be to reward those who put the good of the family before their own. I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of me saying that. 

If you are getting tired of saying it then don't. I am one of those people that fight for that but there are a good portion of people that refuse to do it. I can't make the leaders do that, can you?

I get what you are saying. I know what Achilles was getting at but at the same time his tone was not one that I would like to see taken. You are right there are low rankers that do put themselves before their family, but at the same time there are those higher up in ranks that also do the same. You can't judge a whole group based on a few.

Some of us have high work ethics and standards. I may be just a Wise Guy but I can tell you that even as a thug I had standards. I have not strayed from them and I certainly don't intend to now.

My point is very clear. Not all low rankers are selfish and yet not all high rankers put in their family first. It is just the way it is. If you condemn one group, you need to turn your head to the other.

Transporter agreed with this after past experiences and feels all members what ever rank earn respect from hard work and deserve more at times :)

chocolope I think you are wrong. A gangster cannot be promoted to a bold suit. So yes in order to get to the top you must be at the bottom first.

Now if you are referring to those that have the slanties as soon as they arrive to these shores, I agree that they should have to work for it first. However, not many leaders would agree with you or we would have less thug Right Hands. There are lots of ins and outs and very long discussions that have already come about in regard to that topic.

When I spoke of leaders in this context I was referring to the bold and shiny suits. Not the italics that change with the leaders mood.

Yeah you can be. That much isn't denied but you can't change who the leaders use either. So it really is a moot point. I grasp the concept and the annoyance behind it.

Socrates was enjoying his afternoon walk in the park as he noticed some people gathered around a bulletin board, discussing about a matter that seemed to trouble them a lot. He approaches to listen better what was it about, and someone pointed him to read a note. After he read that he turn around and said.

What history has taught us is that, anyone can get killed. Everyone dies. Even someone from a lower rank, can kill someone important. Of course the chances for a gangster to kill a Godfather are almost negligible, but still, there is some. Thus, everyone has to be careful on how he handles things. How he treats other people. Arrogance can get you killed.

But we cannot have all in life, there are good leaders, bad leaders, good associates, bad associates, bad and good members within a family. There will be disrespectful leaders, members, associates. It's a part of the game. And definitely, it's not my job to tell someone how to run his business, that's for sure...

He smiled and started walking away

Haven listens quietly for a few minutes, listening to the conversation before putting her ten cents in the machine.

I agree that everyone starts at the bottom, I remember reading through my ancestors journals and some of the stuff that they did wasn't even note worthy really, but, here's something not many people take into account. My family has history in these streets, a long an bloody history of self-sacrifice and hard learned lessons. This isn't my families first time on these shores and that has to be taken into account, while I'm not my mother, Layla, I was raised by her hand and trained in her shadow. You could say, I've been raised to take a role as a slanty, with my family's history beaten into me.

This being said, everyone deserves a chance to shine. Everyone has potential to prove themselves and as a leader, I do my best to encourage my lower ranks to shine. Those who's mothers and fathers didn't raise them to take up the slack when their parents died need to be trained and encouraged to learn the old ways, or we'll watch those ways fade in time... Those who exhibit qualities I like, I push, encourage and if I can, I raise them to spots of power, because excellence should be rewarded.

Now, all that being said, today's nobody's are tomorrow's leaders. Family's follow history and tomorrow the child of that guy you pissed all over and shot is gonna remember you. This is why respect needs to go both ways, and why speeches like Achilles Prima Donna speech has so many pissed off.

We've all been those 'pissants' and frankly, if I came to these streets and saw that speech as a first gen citizen, I can't say I'd want to return to raise my child on these streets. The message behind it is understandable, but the words he masked it in are rude and disrespectful. Specially seeing that it's coming from a leader. It makes all leaders look bad, seeming to have such a low value for your low ranked family members is wrong. They're more important then allot of your upper staff. They need your support, your words and your respect because who else are they gonna learn it from? Your upper staff know what they're doing, but without being taught, how are your low ranked members going to learn?

Some of us are lucky enough to inherit our mothers and fathers honor, respect and learning, but this world is built on the respect of those who raise us to these places of power, and insulting them by disrespecting them is just going to earn you their disrespect.

Thank you Socrates for coming out to speak your mind on this. I appreciate the insight.

Haven, I don't think that I could have said it better. Thank you for stepping out and enlightening us with your thoughts as well.

After waking up well into the afternoon, TinyTina stretches and steps outside. She'd circle the streets and look for nice drug deals and steal slightly dead old ladies purses. It wasn't long before TinyTina noticed a note, from a low ranker, attempting to state that a low ranker is the same as a high ranker. Wasn't there something special about the rank of Made Man. Now, TinyTina was still getting her head around this mafia thing, but she was fairly fairy sure that Made Man was the rank that separated you from just another member to a somebody in the family. The only reason TinyTina's crew leader knew her name was because TinyTina annoyed the absolute poop out of @Draven. @Draven had no other choice. Besides that, TinyTina took the roll of just being another member, she wasn't anything terribly important in the larger picture, she was just a goomba. Maybe. She might have been something else. What was a goomba anyway? Either way, TinyTina finished the note.

Borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring.

She announced and continued on her way. 

TinyTina looks around herself and then at Haven. The aliens must have got her too. The aliens must have given her mind reading abilities. TinyTina wondered what other abilities Haven had been given. She wondered if Haven could fly. TinyTina would ask, but knew she didn't have to say a word out loud when Haven was around. 

Holy fucking shit....a 'equal rights' movement? In the fucking mafia? and here I was thinking it couldn't get any worse.

Thank you, Zephyra for proving that no matter how low we sink.....we can always go lower. 

If you think the way certain ranks are spoken to is a matter of equal rights, then yes, yes it is. However I wouldn't expect you to be taught that at the very least you should be civil to everyone. You never know when you might need those people.

Zephyra, fighting the good fight for the thugs of the world. 

Next we'll be having picket lines outside the HQ's and women claiming they want equal rights.

Achilles winks and then hip thrusts several times before gambolling across a patch of grass and looking around in a twitchy sort of way. He then wonders off, rumour had it there was a rather large hit on his head.