Lola had spent the last couple of days paying close attention to the Streets; things had been busy, to say the least, and a lot of mobsters were extremely vocal about their feelings. However, she felt that she, herself, had something to address.

Pulling up a soapbox, she cleared her throat loudly, waited a moment to be sure that she would be heard by at least a few members of the public, and began.

I don't doubt for a moment that many of you still won't be familiar with who I am; most of you have no reason to, and I don't take to this soapbox lightly. When it comes to speaking in the Streets, I am a novice, but I believe that there are certain things that should be observed and I would like to think that for my part, I will always consider the following before opening my mouth.

When you come to the Streets with the intention of saying something, you are not solely representing your own thoughts and opinions. You are representing your family, whether it be by direct association or via a sponsor, and moreover you are representing your city. It shows as severely lacking when some individuals jump on their own soapbox and proceed to not only spew ill-mannered verbal diarrhoea, but sometimes to go as far as throwing proverbial tantrums. It reflects poorly on the confidence placed in that person by their CL and Godfather, and in most cases people will react in one of two ways. Either they will be much less inclined to listen both at the time of speaking and in the future, or they will of course follow suit and respond with their own brand of nonsense. Neither is in any way productive, especially at a time of regeneration in This Thing Of Ours.

Its all very well having an opinion, and I applaud anyone who has the confidence to come forth with theirs. However, we are supposed to function here with a degree of decorum, and I find it incredibly saddening that often, this fails to be the case. What example are we setting those youngsters who come here in search of a future? What impression are we giving to other cities when we are prepared to stand and let our own city down in the most public of forums?

Some of what I've heard in recent days qualifies as valid debate. A lot of what I've heard amounts to nothing more than petty squabbling, and it causes me to wonder whether we're engaging in a bona fide Mafioso way of life or mere playground battles.

Just something worth thinking about, folks.

With that, Lola steps down, places the soapbox to the side and goes for a coffee.

Heavy nods his head slowly, blinking several times before he's fully able to understand, given a short version by a helpful fellow beside him.

Heavy approves! Da, you see, all these men from cities need to know, that they are the face of their team. Little baby to big man, they still have impact on public. When tiny baby cries, looks bad on team. Though all have own opinions, cannot stop them from that. Heavy believe all should take speaking classes. They helped Heavy.

The bear-man grins, standing there while he starred off dully into space.

Many people are familiar with the rule of Omerta, our rule of silence. This code is often implied to secrecy to the inner workings of our families/city and the business conducted within. However another rule of Omerta applies to something that it is rarely compared to and that is your opinion. Traditionally in the past, only those with respect and power should have the ability to voice an opinion and even then it must be within reason of respect. I can almost assure that the rule of respect is specifically outline in all families and cities. Unfortunately you are right about seeing both rules of Omerta and Respect being broken all to often. It is a problem that has been around for many of years but due to recent events of the past few months, it seems to be getting completely out of hand. But we can discuss it all we want, however, it is up to the powers at be to create solutions to correct problems as they arise. I am sure that as this time of peace progress, we will see these rules more strictly enforced.