Stepped out onto the street with yesterday’s insults still clinging to my coat like bad cologne.

Some joker, probably drunk, definitely talentless, called me a half-baked minstrel, or something to that effect. Real cutting stuff. I think he even rhymed it. Poorly.

But I’ve dusted it off, straightened the collar, and climbed back up on the soap box. Not for applause, god knows the streets hand that out sparingly, but because the words don’t sit right unless they’re aired out.

So here I am again. Open collar, open street.

Let’s see who's listening.

I woke up with a start this morning, it isn’t the first morning, it’s reoccurring, only it’s more anxiety filled each day, do you know the feeling I’m talking about? Impending doom? The leading cause of death in this nation for a long time has been exactly what I am now, a Wise Guy, it’s where the main portion of our thing currently sits, with Earners second, steadily making their way up.

This has always been where things tend to get tricky, if it hasn’t already started it usually will soon, the politicking that is, perhaps your donations are rising, you’re bringing back more rats, a little more communitive in the coffee shops perchance? Checking in with your CL a little more frequently? Naturally, you want progression, I want progression, partly for self, mainly for the family.

The good news is your CL is probably feeling it too, if they have their finger on the pulse they’re all too aware of the tsunami of Wise Guys about to reach the threshold of being available for consideration of becoming button men, they have different concerns, of course, whilst I’m  navigating to keep myself alive, they’re routinely juggling dozens of personalities and assessing when and why to bestow the honour of Made Man upon us.

Admittedly, things feel different with this generation, the same of course, but different. I’m willing to go out on a limb and show a little vulnerability, even after having ancestor after ancestor slain at this very moment. Dramatic. I know, I know it’s early days, get back to you in just over a month, right? But I want to believe, we’re all going to make it, allies and rivals alike, my future enemies across the aisle, right now, I’m hoping you’re going to be there too. 

So there it is, my concerns voiced, perhaps it’ll stop the reoccurring thoughts, the cycle no longer perpetuated, and we see what comes together, we get the chance to do things differently, to show things can be done differently, prove to the ancestors of the previous generation of leadership that we can prevail through trust rather than fear.

Feel free to share if you’ve had similar thoughts or perhaps you’re a CL who can share a different perspective?

Salut.

I stepped down from the soapbox, boots hitting the pavement with that familiar thud of “well, that’s done.” The words were out there now, floating, ignored, or maybe landing somewhere useful, who knows. I lit a cigarette, stared down the street, and weighed my options, back to the Velvet Paw for another glass or down to Loop De Loop to see if the cards owed me anything.

Rest assured @JomCasey, while at Tomjoad's your made man promotion is like a distant mirage slipping out of your hands as it comes within reach, here at The Swanfree Swansong we hand out buttons like they're hot cakes as long as FORTUNA favors you.

We use a completely fair and randomised system to pick who we let in amongst our finest members such as Solomon. It starts with rounding up 6 Wise Guys and putting a six-cylindered revolver loaded with a 5 bullets in the middle of them. All have to take a turn shoving the gun in their mouth and pulling the trigger. Whoever is left at the end gets the promotion. This ensures the quality of our Made Men, and all qualify for promotion as long as they pass this simple initiation ritual.

I hope this assuages your worries. Join Detroit for a shot _wink wink at Made Mennery, or persist in Tomjoad's doomed Forever-WiseGuy city.

TheGrayFox listens from the shadows as JimCasy voices his thoughts. After reflecting and self examination, TheGrayFox obnoxiously pulls out a tall soap box and share his own thoughts on this topic.

"I am but a humble ashen Vulpes vulpes making his way in the world, acquiring goods, persuading locked containers to open. I have always been fascinated by the topic of the button man. I remember reading stories that only those were tested and trusted were bestowed the honor and welcoming into something greater than themselves, all-for-one and untouchable. While yet other stories of button man being plucked from the garden indiscriminately, was it lack of trust? The honor is wasted then... should they have been a button man in the first place, I am sure alot can be said about this topic, but my thought is that when a CL opens the books, he or she is opening themselves up to personal risk (all-for-one), but so is the inductee (all-for-one) and that is what makes it truly special (all-for-one), or so I have read. Either way, I am hopefully optimistic."

Waking up dead...

That very statement has an heir of irony.  Like - how do you wake up...

when you are dead?  I don't know - but I think I know what you mean.  

This new regime of crew leaders stands a better chance at supporting their members than the past I do believe.  Activity and mail counts alike have gone way up since the elimination of the previous regime.  There seems to be a much better flow of communication.  

You'll be fine, Little Trooper.  You will make it.  I am betting on you. 

Indifference puts $20 in the jar