laughs,

No it's fine, I love my unisex name.

Don't worry about it. & if you want, u can call me "Sile" for short, thats what everyone calls me.

Next time I'll flip my Lucky coin to decide

laughs

Thank you Sile, as I said earlier piacere

My reply spoke only of the way this thing of ours is, I did however leave out the fact that associates would have to know someone in order to become a associate in the first place as well as the protege method as well. What I ment in my original reply was simply that a higher up can choose to speak to underlings at their pleasure, not that they don't need to. I believe its always good to get the feel of the entire picture and helping others only helps you in the end. In the end though, it is the choice of the person and what path they choose to walk.

I respect that.

There's an old saying, "Power flows both ways," Any group is only as strong as it's weakest member. It's the Don who runs a Family, obviously, but it's the lower ranks who are the Family's public face. They represent the Family in public and reflect on their leader, either positively or negatively.

This is why it's so important to keep everyone on the same page, and this takes communication.

I totally agree. That's where I was coming from.

I remember reading through the old diaries of my distant ancestor, PSINinja. PSI was the first of my line to come to these shores and be a part of this thing of ours. In those age-yellowed pages, he spoke of a kind woman named Skylar who took him under her wing and taught him the ways of the world. He passed these lessons down to his son and his son passed it down in turn.

While I don't have any great leaders in my family tree, I can say I have quite a few made men in my ancestory. I often wonder how very different the fate of my line would have been if it hadn't been for Skylar and her words of wisdom and encouragement.

Exactly, all the newbies need a helping hand to make it. It is nearly impossible to make it out here without contacting anyone or conversating.

I have had much help since I came around. I must say it was a plus to already know someone first though, otherwise it might have been more difficult but I just don't think I wouldn't have made it as far as I have now. I mean, is it really THAT hard to stay alive?

*Laughs*

Maybe to some it is. For future reference though, I am still not that knowledgable about this new life I'm living but if anyone finds themself lost or scared send me a mail. I'm always glad to forward the information that I do know.

There's a big difference between survival and success. The bum that live underneath a bridge and eats garbage is "surviving", but I'd hardly call him a success story.