Family.


It is this six letter word that our entire world is built around. Choosing a Family is, and I am sure no one will care to disagree, a great and momentous decision in any individual's live and should not be taken frivolously or on a whim. It requires grave deliberation and patient thought. Finally, when a Family is chosen, one must stand by it through thick and thin, never abandoning it, be they Made Men and above or mere associates. Loyalty to your Family should be instinctive and should not waver even in the face of Armageddon. On the other hand, the Leader of a Family is responsible for the safety of his associate and is responsible for every bad decision he makes and there are records of entire Families being wiped out because a Family Head decided to stand by his associate.

Well, the above would happen every time around, IF we were to live in a perfect world. We, however, do not live in a perfect world and there are so many of us, who run into a crew, find they hate it and take one of two choices. First, Suicide or the cowards way out or they decide to do something monumentally stupid and get shot. They either do that, or when their Family is threatened they jump ship and join another Family.When questioned, they respond with a response along the lines of 'I did not like the CL'.

Most of us, myself included,feel that it is distinctly thankless on an associates part to dislike a CL. I also feel it is indeed human to have expectations of the man/woman who leads you and if they fall short of aforementioned expectations, it is only human to dislike them and not respect them.

I feel I have rambled on enough. Now, to the heart of the matter:

What do you expect of any leader you choose? Or in other words What qualities define the perfect CL?

If a mere associate can expect things from a leader, it is only fair that a leader MUST be entitled to expectations as to who the perfect Family member is.

So, Respected Crew Leaders,

Who, in your opinion,is the perfect Family member?

Luger stops from his daily walk on the streets after hearing a few words spoken by Warwick. The question interested him enough to share his thoughts.

"I don't expect much from those who has never ran their own family and neither have their bloodline. But for those that are crew leaders and their forefathers have been crew leaders, I think they should know when and how to handle a situation properly. Because it is he or she providing the protection to his or her crew. It's a big responsibility and with that being said, a crew leader should be wise with the decisions they make. That is all."

He then continues his walk and within seconds he was gone.

The perfect family member you ask?

Me, obviously. Just ask Sao. I am, as they say, the shit.

yep, yep. Goku is. And Zmei. All hail Goku and Zmei!

I too would like to hear some of our bold suits come out and give their two cents on what they look for in members. A brief look into what they expect, beyond the usual things would be very educational for us all. Maybe someone will share their thoughts!

Stops her search for the transvestite corn stand and listens to Warwick give his small speech

I THERNK ERL CRERW LERDERS LERV SERMAHN WH ERS ERN CHERERCTER ERND PRERTER ERCTERV ERN DA STRERTS ERND WERTHERN DA CRERW.

Looks over at Ragnarok

CERN U PLERS PERNT MAH ERN DA DERERCTERN ERF DA TRERNSVERSTERT CERN STERND, RERGNERERK?

You should always give complete loyalty to your crewleader.

The perfect crewleader to me, would communicate with everyone in their crew as much as possible. On an individual level, and as a group.  I would guess that is the reason most people have for not liking a crewleader, simply a lack of knowing that they care about you.  I would imagine that works both ways too, but I would be interested in what the crewleaders think as well.

Doubletap pulls up in his freshly detailed Deuce Coupe.  He just sits in the car for a minute looking around until he finally finds his pack of smokes, then he jumps out the car without using the door and walks over to the gathered crowd. He packs the smokes against his palm and starts to speak.

This is an interesting conversation and has not received the attention I thought it might. There was a conversation awhile back about leader preferences and a number of folks mentioned how they chose wisely based on work ethic and other abstract idea's while completely ignoring things like gender. It struck me at the time that they must have had a crystal ball if they could tell who might be a good fit for anyone new to this life. My own decision and the resulting surprises have re enforced my view that you simply roll the dice when you approach a leader about protection. Much like that box of chocolates, you never know what you'll get. I sure didnt.

What has become clear to me is that my judgement over time has been mediocre at best. I doubt anyone could live up to the kind of CL SquidMaster is. In all likelihood, few of my children will ever have a leader of this caliber. If the past is any indication anyway. Squid is everything you could want in a CL. A good listener and an excellent mobster. Someone who engaged me immediately, learned what I was about, and made me feel part of this family like few have. And I dont think for a minute this is unique to me, its probably done with everyone in the crew and it shows. SquidMaster is living proof someone, somewhere, knew what the hell they were doing when that suit got handed out. How you would ever know this new off the boat is the mystery to me, I just thank my lucky stars I came to Squid when I needed a home.

I think this question is pretty straightforward. Loyality is always number one from everyne. To the associate and from. A willingness for an associate to always do what you're asked and zero hesitation when doing what you're told. I mean, to say, "Ask how high when asked to jump" is a bit extreme, but basically that's dead on. But the tricky part is... these actions, while they may help to determine loyality, they do not secure trust. As they shouldn't. That is a much high mountain to climb. And yet, it seems that it does equal trust. I think some of us trust too easily. Not to name anyone specifically as that's nothing something I have the right to do, but I just get this feeling it the pit of my stomach that it does happen. 

As for a Crewleader, I've only had one. I share a lot of Doubletap's thought on this matter. But to say what makes a good crew leader? That's too difficult to pinpoint. But like the others, I'm curious for those in the bold suits to step up and give us their opinions. Seeing as how all the leaders at one point or another worked under someone else. They have likely a better idea.