Welcome to the Daily Debate

The place to trot out your inner thoughts like a fashion parade.

Disclaimer – two in two days is a coincidence.

City Hopping*: Jumping From A Frying Pan Into A Fire?

So, I'm an organised kind of guy.  I'll confess to an unhealthy fixation for sticky dots and labels, so much so that each and every person I see has been noted, colour coded and sorted because I'm getting a bit long in the tooth and need quick visual clues to say "Ooh..how is the view from the Holywood hills" or "Aren't those Yankees doing well?" as ways to break the ice.

However I'm spending a chunk of time having to re-colour code and label people as they all of a sudden decide that a change of scenery has been required.

In the olden days (good olden or bad olden is up to you), a boing in the distance was a sign that there was a Zebedee around but these days it’s a sign of a city hopper - someone leaving their current city and family for reasons known or unknown.  This is not to be confused with anything to do with an airline that may or may not do a city hopper service although those doing it may well use them I suppose.

• Crew leaders move after a heavy dose of pew pew renders a city empty…all good.
• People are asked by others in a different city to be their hand…all good I suppose.
• Moving to throw your hat in the ring of a competition city…all good again
• The refugee…I am weak, my city has died, I have little to offer except the clothes on my back…makes sense
• Just coz…not so good in my opinion.

What about scenarios where you feel you don’t fit?  Is the wise guy/made man transition the point where you tough it out?  

Is moving city to pursue a given agenda the way forward?

There are a multitude of reasons why city hopping may happen and I’m not one to judge on whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing.  Let’s hear the pros and cons, from people whose bloodlines do it/have done it and those who stick things out to the bitter end.

Next time – Seattle: The sugar covered fruit jelly of cities?

* TM LouisMezzo

Once again Godfather Mezzo was at it in the streets trying to stir up some conversation on topics which definitely required thought and attention by anyone who was or hoping to be in leadership. Although nobody had truly decided to share their thoughts yet Wally decided that he would step up to the plate and take a swing at it.

"I'll be brutally honest up front and then get my reasoning done afterwards. I have always fucking hated it with a passion when members asked to leave for other cities....if it had nothing to do with advancing their career and entering leadership. I would never stand in the way of somebody attaining the position of right hand or left hand if I knew or thought they may never achieve that within the confines of the crew or city I was working for. Past that....well if you want to join another city then hopefully your kin enjoys it there." He kept his face serious to match his feelings on the subject.

"If anyone is unable to infer what I meant there, well I think that if somebody wants to just up and go work for another crew then they can go take a dirt nap. Now I know this is extreme for some, especially the way things happen in our way of life these days. I just have a strong sense of loyalty and want the people around me to have that as well." He remembered reading his ancestors journals and seeing how quickly some people would just want to jump ship if a friend elsewhere got a crew.

"I especially wouldn't be able to stand for somebody making their bones with the crew and then trying to head off to another city just to join the crew. Since again, I would be more supportive if they were furthering their career immediately due to a transfer. Otherwise you just got bored, possibly a traitor who knows something is going to happen, maybe you never intended on staying, or possibly you just have not a single loyal bone in your body. Whatever the case for wanting to leave for no reason other than wanting to be in another crew, I don't believe that there is need to keep that person alive. Let their kin go off to another city and begin their lives there as perhaps their parent should have." He could see some people were dissatisfied with his answers so far.

"Now let me be a little more clear on some things here though. There will always be situations or times that I'd not take this stance. Maybe they caught me on a good day or perhaps I just can't argue with their reasoning. Hell I've read of people basically paying for member transfers where the Crew Leader could make a nice bit of change. I know that sometimes a person will make a decision to join somebody with all intentions of working their asses off for them and maybe their first impressions aren't correct. They slowly realize they cannot stand to work with the person they joined. I can't say that it's never happened to my ancestors. It would still be hard for me to not send that person off in a body bag." Wally knew he was starting to really drag on, but still had some things he wanted to say.

"I agree with you Godfather Mezzo on essentially everything you've stated as reasons and whether they are good or not. I think I've pretty clearly outlined that. I do want to emphasize though that my feelings on this are my own. If I'm not the Crew Leader then I will default to their feelings on the subject when it comes to making the final decision, but I'll make sure they know how I feel about it overall. No matter how I feel on the subject I would not try to force it upon somebody I was working with."

"I myself have never had an ancestor who joined up in one city and then asked to leave for another. Hell, most of my ancestors never felt that they could or should join another crew in the same city if it wasn't for a leadership position. I've had ancestors who had good friends beg them to ask for a transfer and they've refused. I understand that notion that they felt they must stick it out and help the crew they joined till the end. Something in me just feels that if I want out then I'll have to ask for them to end it or let me retire so that my kin can try to have the life I missed out on. I know that there are many who don't agree with this stance and believe the exact opposite, which I can understand why they feel that way. I don't agree with it, but I've heard the reasoning as to why they think it is okay and I can comprehend that. I will just never agree or do it myself." With that Wally shrugged and stepped aside hoping to hear from others or ever Mr. Mezzo himself again. 

Alessandra Korkunova did not expect to jump into a discussion, but she had listened to the responses and felt bold enough to voice her own thoughts about the proposed question.

I have not personally been in this situation before but I can definitely say that my ancestors have ‘city hopped’ many times before. On the outside looking in it’s such a seemingly shameful act and is almost seen to be like a traitor move. I can understand why WallyWest said what he said. I too, have a strong sense of loyalty to my crew leader and I’ve settled down very nicely here in Philadelphia. But I can also understand the people who don’t have a problem with city hopping.

If you don’t mind, today... I’ll be using my ancestors’ experiences to help myself come up with my own opinions of city hopping and why I think it is OK – depending on who.

Who? – Who is asking to city hop and what are their credentials? I think it just depends on the person. If I was to ever be a crew leader and someone asks to transfer to another city, whether that’s to take up a hand position or be in a crew with their friends, I would only say yes if I already know that the person asking is sincere and have good intentions. They have been with me for a period of time before asking so I should somewhat know what type of person they are. So on the day I had recruited them I should already be asking myself – are they really here to prove their loyalty or are they here for temporary shelter?

If the person asking me was someone I knew to be a snake, bully, snitch or all of the above then obviously I’d say no and as WallyWest said – tell them to take ‘a dirt nap’.

To conclude, I love my city and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

However, on the chance that I get asked to move cities for a position, I hope that my crew leader sees that I have good intentions and just want to advance my career. Entering leadership is such a great opportunity and it would allow for me to make new connections and ultimately, expand the alliance.

Jester loved a good masterdebate.  He loved them so much that whenever they seemed to pop off or explode, he always felt the need to stop pleasuring the people in the streets with his performances and provide both oral and auditory support to whatever the topic of the day was.  

Jester picked himself up out of the gutter and saw that an old speech was revived for the purpose of debate amongst the living gangsters in the world.  It was an interesting one, and perhaps one that may divide the community.  Jester played with his juggling balls and rode his unicycle to the soapbox to engage the community.

"Thanks Alessandrakorkunova for bringing this back up. I gotta say, I think the former godfather of this fine city was onto something here.  The thing that I can most certainly take from what he had to say is that he was a man of a certain ideal, and he also made it known as a leader what his expectations were.  You can't ask for much more than that.  What I do think, is that the decision about who lives and who dies lies in the hands of a guy or gal with a certain amount of influence in these parts.  He made it known that once a commitment was made - it was expected that people adhere to it.  People around here often forget that the world we live in is shaped by the godfathers, not the gangsters."

Jester lights a hoop on fire and dives through it head first as some of the crowd throws tomatoes money at him.

"So, I guess that's the way it was then and I can respect the ideal - even if I don't fully agree with it.  I'm not in a position to decide the movement of mobsters in our area, but I suppose that if I were - I'd look at it from both a business sense and an entertainment sense.  I believe that cohesiveness and unity is the way to move forward in this world.  If, for some reason someone under my watch wanted to move to a different crew - my first question would be WHY?  Maybe I can do something better.  Maybe there's a misunderstanding.  After that, I guess I'd look to gain from the situation.  Perhaps in dollars, perhaps even just in terms of building goodwill within the community.  And if there was ever an ounce of disrepect thrown my way, then I suppose it might end up in bloodshed.  But - this is all just hypothetical.  I'm just a lil' guy around here for the amusement of you all."

With that, Jester jumps on a pogo stick and starts lights a smoke and takes off to back into the crowd.