*Wads up a flyer and tosses it in the street*

It's been damn near a year since anyone from my family have walked these streets, and I gotta say, things are a lot different then the way my old man wrote about em.

Harassment from punks asking me to buy their crappy product, dine in their crappy restaurants, drink in their bars, take their.... language courses...if I had an interest in these things would I not simply visit these myself? If I had an interest of becoming an associate of one of these fine organizations would I not write a letter to the respective family? Is it really necessary to have some guido at my door telling me how great this family is, and how they will protect me if I only follow him back to their respective headquarters... I recall when I first set foot here these freakin guys  annoying the shit outta me with their verbal vomit.

I guess all I really wonder is why something so frowned upon once before, embraced now?

I

It is embraced now because the Gods have made it that way. That isn't even coming from me but from someone who has been here far longer than I have and has been much higher than I have. Some swear he was killed, went and joined the Gods but they returned him because they were sick of being killed again. Although I do agree to a point..

Anyway. Basically, due to the Gods causing freak storms and forcing boats to land at one of the 7 cities habours the leaders are being implored to try and keep as many of thepeople getting off the boats as they can. The best way to keep their intrest is not to shoot them but to molly coddle them and hand everything to them on a plate.

This is causing some of the problems that leaders are discussing in the streets in my humble opinion. Firstly, Made Men are not acting like Made Men and are being killed by the same leaders who handed them that badge. Well, these people would have most likely died at Gangster if it were not for the fact they are factory fed into a crew, through the rules and a sub crew to become fledged members in this world of ours. They then crime their way up, perhaps a post or two here and there and then they get their Made suit. The power then goes straight to their head. They have been told this is where you are respected, where you can talk down to those below you and off they go. Like sheep to the slaughter. Had they actually been taught the basic principles of this world when they were younger they may have had a better chance. Oh, and I don't mean by someone telling me. I mean by actually going out there and figuring it out for themselves.

Secondly, the whole "Auth'd" Tattoo craze out there at the moment. It wouldn't even be there if the under 48 hour rule was not born. These people, who are too weak minded to go out and get a crew no matter how easy it is now, take the easy option by the only means possible. But alas that is a fair rule I suppose. You must give them two sleeps to think it over before killing them, right? Fair is fair and we have record numbers of people coming to our shores and staying because of it.

Difference being, and I genuinely wonder this, Would you rather have 100 factory fed mobsters running round without a brain to themselves or 10 mobsters who are street smart, Know how it works because they learnt the hard way and came out the other side?

I'm pretty sure I'd rather have ten smart loyal skull crackers than 100 drooling guidos making idiotic comments shooting at things they aren't supposed to be. Of course, I'm no boss...

I received a similar request from a lovely young woman. I considered it an honor myself. Why come to the streets and complain because a some hot dame invited you to dine?

Deuce walks off shaking his head in puzzlement.

Because she extended the same offer to all the fellas....and thats not my kinda broad.

I think I prefer the 10 street smart AND the 100 guidos. After all, who are the 10 smart ones boss around if there are no guidos.

The -48 hour rule gave our world a growth that we all benefit from and it keeps bringing in fresh minds. Sure it's just the one in 20 that is the one that can think, but still, it's better than nothing.

But the unsolicited mail or knock on the door was always frowned upon and still is. And I personally don't mind the people who hand out fliers to everyone to see who they can "recruit". Whoever falls for it deserves to end in a crew filled with people like that. And said crew will not last very long any way.

Personally myself I don't mind with the New Ideas and New Feature's / Business  that are coming out on the streets. It offers new ideas and fresh forward thinking. If the old mafiosi don't really like it thats fine everybody's got a opinon. It's just the way it is

"goes back into the coffee shop..."

?

"Just so you're aware... however you say your name. The speakers in this conversation are long past dead. My journal entries also has one of these men dying as a GF (maybe it was a descendant with an identical name) for threatening a bunch of people out in the streets and the only direct interaction in my journals is one scolding an ancestor of mine for disagreeing and being from such a young bloodline. Being from a newer bloodline was openly looked down upon and something to insult back then. Another man is noted for harassing new members for being new. My ancestors had horribly forgetful memories so maybe some of this is mixed up... but the old ways they were fighting to keep discouraged new bloodlines from entering our world and this place has lost far too many older bloodlines for it to even exist without recruiting to bring in more fresh blood."

"I'm not looking to hold any descendants of these men accountable for past actions, but their actions were despicable and needed to be removed. On top of that, my oldest ancestor came to these shores shortly after the movement they protested happened and apparently he only joined the life of crime BECAUSE he was approached by a woman by the name of Ellie. A bloodline that's not mentioned again in all of my journal entries, but an important one for introducing me to my ancestor's first teachers. I likely wouldn't be here today without the efforts of the old recruiters or if some of the oldest ways were allowed to continue on. I want a lot of things from our past to come back, as well, but  this isn't how you do it. You should come up with your own speech, your own ideas and explain why things should go back to the way they were. If enough people agree they might listen, but bringing old speeches to our attention again is stupid and pointless."

Your journal sounds amazing.