Boydy kicked away some of the recently used soap boxes and brought his very own polished one. Boydy couldn't be arsed for the theatrics of a grand entrance and just got on with it.

Ok, so let's just address the giant elephant in the room to start with, AdmiralAckbar's recent speech and the giant clanger he made with regards to how he spoke, in particular the pronunciation of certain words and what he was actually saying.

In my experience within this place, we've always held leaders to a high standard, this is due to the fact that they are the people setting the example for the rest of us, so if they come out and look like a retard, then it's kind of ok for the rest of us to do the same. For me, when I heard that speech, admittedly I was at hand to correct the first of the mistakes but then I got to thinking, is this right? Are we still applying those standards? I mean, my family line have taken a break from this world for a while now and so it could be completely different and actually I don't want to deter anyone from coming out here.

Do we still hold these standards in place, or do we feel standards have slipped or that actually, that sort of thing is no longer important?

Are leaders still the people we look to to direct us? Or is it down to ourselves to lead the streets in how we want them to look? I notice story tellers by the truck load, yet discussions seem to be very few and far between. Maybe that's because a lot of what can be said, has been said or because people just don't really care for it anymore.

In general interaction appears to be poor between mobsters, people are happy to plod along, keeping themselves to themselves with minimal engagement, maybe that's for another discussion though.

Boydy shrugs

Hello Boydy.  Nice to meetcha.  I see you weren't getting a lot of folks joining you here so I hope you don't mind me jumping in?

So... unless my count is wrong we currently see the following on '1st Street' -- 

Announcements and Upcoming Events: 3
Contests: 1
Newspapers: 1
Stories: 7
Discussions: 5
 

Which, compared to the last few months is a much more well-rounded variety of things happening.  Granted, perhaps in the time of your ancestors, there were a lot more discussions?  Personally, I don't think a lack of stories or a lack of discussions doesn't speak to much more than what folks are interested in at the moment.  And, like all things here on these shores, wait a few weeks - it'll change.

However, I've heard that once there was a time when speaking in the streets was how people got noticed by their crew leaders; that being willing to get involved in discussions (and do so respectfully and professionally) was a real measure of whether a wise guy was ready to be made or not.  And I can see where that might be a good way to show the world that you know something of respect and that you do have a willingness to engage the community we got going here.

But ... is a man's ability to communicate without error a measure of who he is though?  Some folks are immigrants and English isn't their first language.  Coming out to the streets can be really daunting to such folks, but that doesn't mean that what they have to share isn't important.  Also, being able to speak well in the streets gets better with experience.  I'm a firm believer in encouraging folks to keep working on a skill to improve it - even if they have got all the way to the top here in this life.  

So, to answer your questions... no, I don't think that the standard is lower persay - maybe people are just looking more to content rather than how it's presented?  And I also don't think that people have stopped caring.  There have been quite a few discussions both in the streets and lounge about whether or not standards have fallen and if people still care. 

Much lamentation has occurred regarding the lack of discussions in the recent past but in the last few weeks, there has been a resurgence of them.  I think when people want something, it will inevitably return and for those whose bloodlines have been on these shores for a long while... if something old has been forgotten, something of value, my strong suggestion is:  bring it back!  Everything old can be new again and for those of us whose families have only been here a year or two, everything old IS new.

Standards here are very low. This is now a 3rd world shit-hole.

Guess that's why you're here eh?