It had been a rather busy couple of weeks. PlagueGuy had just established himself in Summerlin under the guise of Circle-of-Fire, and was now running things of his own regard. Still, things were a bit quiet, and being busy had led to a bit of a pause on the streets.

Still, he figured he should head out and start a group discussion, something positive to think about amongst a sea of relentless pesterers and their many kin, although most of the streets had been quiet, albeit a neat little poker tournament being set up in Los Angeles he had a decent amount of interest in.

"Politics aside, I'm only here to discuss a small topic I find pretty inspiring throughout most of our daily lives, and that's simply an extra step forward in general respect one can take during our activities. Whether it be sending out that thank-you letter for an OC invite, success OR failure, staying respectful of one's pockets, or sending out a gift to anyone outside of your friends circle, simply "just because".

To go a little in-depth, it's always nice to see a mail come in after running a group crime, even if it simply says, "Thank you!". I try to send them out whenever available once the job goes underway, regardless of whether it's a successful outcome or not. Even if huddling people together didn't require much effort to begin with, it's still a group effort in the end, and the goal is always the same. Plus, it's always fun to shift the blame on someone whenever the alarm goes off or the getaway car turns out useless!

Pickpocketing is the other one I see a good chunk of. Sure, a massive bunch of officers always tend to be sitting out and about, free to run their pockets, but sometimes comes the time when you need to hone your skills, and nobody but fellow mobsters are around. That mail you send them often helps avoid a confrontation and can even turn into a fun little conversation aftersuch.

Drug fronts are another somewhat niche topic; taking the time to buy them up when available not only usually tends to put you ahead a couple bucks or a whole trunks-worth, but also helps whoever spent the large sum of cash to start it up in the first place. Getting to know whoever is buying up your hard work is always a nice treat.

My last point is simply the common gifts people may send out, for whatever reason they deem fit. Someone asking for help? Here's a little something to get you sorted out. Fun events going on? Nobody wants to be excluded, here's something to help you join in. Any of these reasons or circumstances and more can lead to a wonderful time with whoever you may send them to, and possibly later even a good friend. And in this sort of world, good friends, especially those you can easily chat with, are always a requirement to have around.

Part of it might be common courtesy, but the other part might just be a simple sign of respect to the person you're interacting with. It also easily could just be something to brighten yours or another's day. Life can sometimes get pretty boring, and even simple exchanges or taking the time to send a small mail out, even if the action or job in question is mostly routine, is always nice to see, at least from my view.

This isn't to say there is something wrong with not responding either; there's no requirement on either side. It's simply something anyone can do that's out of their main path if they so choose, and really only can (and should) lead to a nice outcome.

My questions to ask are these: what are some examples any of you might have seen? What are some experiences you've had where a smaller nice gesture turned into something a little or even much more? How else could people start taking some time to get out and about and meet someone new, through any means?

While I agree that encouraging gangsters to send thank you notes in order that they may make friends is an important discussion to have, I would also like to bring up a counterpoint.

There was once a Pope named Celestine who was a hermit. He slept on the floor of a cave, flogged himself with a whip and wore a steel girdle so that no one could get near his cock, lest ye be met with a dull thud. And still, this was the man God had chosen to speak for all of Christendom. 

Will the man who speaks for all gangsterdom be the one with the sending small gifts to his chums or the steel-girdled, self-flagellating maniac with no conception of superficial niceties nor regard for conventional, conformist society? 

Claudius,

Most of my point was really to provide some appreciation for those who do bother going the extra mile. Regarding the status of who gives them out isn’t too much of a concern, at least to me, unless there are other things I should be concerned about.

Gifts don’t buy friendships and they never will (nor should). Rather, I’d say they serve as a middle line between the two; a gift out of the norm might lead to doing something together in the future. Is there an incentive for it? Not to me, actually. I just listed off some positives that can come from doing something of the like. In all fairness, you’re losing something of your own to give out to someone who probably won’t return the favor. It’s not that you should expect something in return, nor should you expect gifts to be handed out willy-nilly.

So should it be encouraged? Not directly. But nor should it be discouraged. It’s simply something anyone can do whenever they feel like, and I view taking a look at it positively is probably better than those who might just use it to buy their way into some social groups or for whatever gratification they might deem themselves. The pettiness of it is up to you to decide; I say unless given reason to think otherwise, accept some things graciously and see what happens from there. Usually, there shouldn’t be any harm in doing so, and nor is their harm to simply ignore or return gifts or mails or anything else sent your way. People decide how they want to use their spoils, and the people sending them can do the same.

When my bloodline first arrived on these shores years ago  for several generations I sent out thank you notes for folks bringing me on their organized crime endeavors. I stopped because for several generations I was asked why I did it. 

This questioning gave me the impression that my gratitude was unwanted. So I stopped, except for rare occasions. Does this mean I am not grateful for organized crimes that people choose to take me on? No I am still grateful. I just refuse to show gratitude to folks who have made it quite clear that it is unwanted. 

Terrah, that's rather disappointing to hear, and one of my earliest kin experienced something of the same. I don't see any reason why anyone should really question it period, and part of me hopes it isn't some paranoia or random fear or any other reason they might want to use. You invited them to an OC and they said thank you for it, and that's all it really has to be. It's not necessarily as important as a response to a gift, but it's still something that can be done regardless, and simply saying "Your welcome" or anything else to stick with the golden rule is satisfactory enough, at least to me.

Unwanted gratitude is rather rough. There's a huge difference between saying thanks for a small occasion and continuously pestering someone with compliments, just as there is simply opening a door for a lady and otherwise continuously asking them if they want a smoke, drink, or any other commodity. Just because you haven't spoken with someone before doesn't mean you should completely ignore them, especially after they initiate a conversation, but it also doesn't mean that they'll incessantly bug you until you get fed up with their presence. Strangers are strangers, and nothing deeply personal has to be formed every single time you meet someone new; that's rather unproductive and often messy.

Vladimir came to the streets after a long night of managing the Tinseltown Tables casino. There was a poker tournament last night, followed by a cash game. Was a fun, long night to say the least. He managed some willpower to speak on the question at hand.

"I think before we start asking these questions PlagueGuy, we need to first address real respect. Quite frankly there isn't very much in our streets, in our coffee shops, or just generally in the open public's eye. We all work in the criminal underground in some fashion and all have a rank hierarchy. Yet, its all thrown out the window and doesn't seem to matter much. There is no standard when it comes to respect. We have seen different regimes try to enforce a standard and when that happens, things tend to get worse."

He talks a quick pause to recollect his thoughts.

"Another thing to think about, we're all killers. No one can deny that and some are better than others. Why on earth would I ever give any gift to someone who might in turn put two in the back of my head later down the line? I should be kicking up everything extra I have to my upper echelon to protect the enterprise. Not to someone else who is already planning for my own downfall.

I'm not trying to stop or even question your topic at hand. I just generally think our standards have fallen in the topic of respect and we could do some enforcing ourselves in our community."

Vlad walked off in the direction of his car so he could drive back to SammySoul's headquarters and catch a nap.

Vladimir I am curious what standards you are talking about. This is a topic that is often made in generalizations and as a result people have different ideas of the concept. This is why the standards change from regime.

are these the standards of give me respect just because my bloodline has been on these shores longer?

or is it a standard of give me respect because of what I have done currently, not what my ancestors  have done?

Or is it a standard of show me  respect according to the persons rank?  

Heston wonders down the streets looking for a cigar shop when he overhears a discussion taking place waiting for his turn to speak he lights the last cigar on him

"I always try and send a thank you message after crime invites I was always bought up to do so. But I guess a lot of the respect has gone and I am not sure why!"

Heston wonders off thinking about the topic some more 

Vladimir, I’m actually surprised to hear there’s a lack of respect, as from what I’ve seen things are rather honorable of late. Regarding a standard to respect, there’s one everywhere already, unless you are referring to something specific in particular. Whether standards have “fallen” or not is up to one’s own interpretation, and further input inside or from the outside might do good to help get a better view or example of that. Usually, blatant disrespect ends with a bullet, and that’s mostly been the case for as long as we can remember.

Regarding gifts going out to anyone who’d turn around and put a few bullets in your skull, sure. There’s always that risk associated, but then what would be the point of gifts otherwise? The whole point is to gift it out without a care of what happens after or (usually) expecting anything in return. Generally, I’d suspect most of the people who you’d consider giving gifts to are not the type to immediately turn around and go, “You fool!” and then dance over your corpse. Do they exist? Sure, but we’ve done a pretty good job at limiting what they can and can’t do already.

For further enforcement on what standards of respect we’d deem suitable, I’m open to ideas, as I otherwise view the current environment suitable. Can improvements be made? As with anything, yes, they can. The question is what things could be improved, how useful it would be to move forward and actually improve them, and, probably more importantly, whether or not changing up standards of respect or anything of the sort is seen as too pushy or questionable. That is to be avoided. Like you’ve mentioned, forcing a standard can lead to problems, and that might be even why you see a lack of one at the moment!

Standards do exist, it just depends on how public and visible they are. If standards don’t need to be heavily enforced, be it because the general majority of people are not assholes, then they probably should remain at the same place they are now. Unless we’re seeing a massive wave of problems and disrespect flooding the streets and within crews, there probably is not an immediate cause for alarm.

Big_Paul was taught respect from his ancestors. His father told him “in this thing of ours, respect is paramount. Lack of respect shows a character flaw, and disrespect will get you killed quickly”. Big_Paul has witnessed this time and time again. “Treat others the way you want to be treated” was drilled into Big_Pauls head by both his father and grandfather. He still practices respect to this day.

I have thought a few times about responding to this topic PlagueGuy, and I alternate between I'll get around to it later, or I really can't be bothered. So I'm going to finally share my thoughts... well if you hear these words I will, perhaps I'll decide to not bother after all. Anyway, I like this subject for the reason that we always discuss the specific respect inherent in our role, but we seldom talk about the general respect we show to each other. Personally, I was brought up to be polite. For the most part I am respectful when I address anyone, regardless of rank. I thank people for Drug Prices, invites to Organized crimes, random messages they send, tips I receive above the standard 20k, donations from my crew and so on. I don't see it as beneath me or a chore, in fact if I can't be courteous and polite, why would my crew or city members follow me? Not only that, I'm more likely to hold a grudge against someone who doesn't say thank you, or tip or fails to respond to mails. 

The issue with being disrespectful or not being polite is that yes, that person might well, as Vladimir puts it, put two in the back of your head further down the line, but chances are that will be purely business, and not personal, and the politeness and opening channels of dialogue may well prevent that shot from even taking place if a good bond is made or a new alliance is forged. I have several friends right now, crew leaders in other cities, Godfathers, just because we got to talking over the exchange of simple pleasantries. I know that some day, hopefully long from now, they may shoot me, or I may shoot them, but it will not be personal, it will be business pure and simple, and I will grieve at their funeral just as I would at the funeral of any of my friends, as I hope they in turn would grieve at mine. I even attend the funerals of my enemies and detractors, because again it is a sign of respect, I may not agree with their path, or their accusations, but i respect their decision to take that path. 

One last point I wish to make, and I will address Sunset directly on this. Sometimes in this life, we have to do things, terrible things, in order to get the job done. If my job is to remove you, or your CL, then I will use all the power at my ability to do so. The variance in Age, and protection level leads me to believe that for yourself, the best course of action would be simply to walk up to you and shoot you in the back of the head, twice I believe would be Vladimir's preferred method. However, if I were to decide to take on Don Voodoo a cursory glance tells me that he has a far higher Bodyguard count than you, plus he lives a reasonable distance away, reducing my local knowledge and sphere of influence. I might possibly kill him, but then again, I might fail and if I were to fail that would bring our two families to war. Friends, associates, loved ones and Buttonmen may lose their lives in the ensuing battle. So perhaps a better plan of attack would be to whisper in the ears of Heston, to poison the relationship between the two leaders. Perhaps I could arrange the assassination of a few low ranked mobsters, bury any witnesses and knock up a few fake witness statements, blaming high ranked members of Voodoo's crew, such as yourself, leading Heston to do my dirty work. Heston may even come out the other side of the war as my friend due to the invaluable evidence I have furnished him with, removing yet another potential enemy and creating a new ally. This course of action is not disrespectful, its the exact opposite. I am acknowledging Voodoo's prowess and ability to hurt my family, and I am using other tools to mitigate that risk, I am respecting my adversary's ability. 

Respect is a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements. It is also due regard for the feelings, wishes, or rights of others. It doesn't have to be both at the same time though, it can be one or the other or both.