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| Brother, Can You Spare Some Individuality | Started by: RonMexico on Nov 27, '07 00:48 |
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RonMexico whistles a joyful tune as he struts through town with his head up and a spring in his step. A bluebird lands on his shoulder and whistles along momentarily before flying off into the horizon towards, no doubt, endless fields of daisies. When he comes to a bank of post office boxes, RonMexico halts and, in one fluid motion, retrieves a key from his pocket, tosses it in the air, catches it, and unlocks his mailbox -- lucky number 274. As he peers at the envelopes inside, his tune ends abruptly and his shoulders slump. Fuck. He sighs as he extracts the mail and locks the mailbox. He goes through the letters, one by one, violently ripping the envelopes open and skimming their contents. Let's see... "Dear sir... loyal... hard worker..." Oh, I'll bet. He tosses the letter into the gutter and continues to the next. "Hi... honest... trustworthy..." That's good, for a change. He lets the letter fall to the ground and continues again. "Hey bro..." For fuck sake. He grabs a bottle out of the hands of a passing wino and pitches it at the nearest group of young thugs. Goddamn kids. Every time, it seems... A young man approaches RonMexico, letter in hand. "Mr. Mexico," he says, "You didn't like my invitation request?" No, I didn't. It bored me. "Oh, well... I blindly agree with everything you said. So... I'm in?" Mouth full of words and nothing to say, huh? Get the fuck outta here. The young man mopes off. RonMexico sighs. Well... is this the sort of thing I roll out of bed each morning and pump myself full of liquor for? Surely not. Each day several of these letters come into my hands. They're clear and to the point. No nonsense, and no wasted words. They cut straight to the important parts -- loyalty, honor, hard work, reliability, obedience... I fucking hate them. The wino shuffles up behind RonMexico and leans over his shoulder. Ron pushes him away slowly and cautiously. As you no doubt know, as a leader, in addition to responsibility to family, there is always a push for responsibility to the community. Be it an internal desire, or an outward vocal push, it's there. So what is RonMexico doing for the community, at large? He's kindly telling you to take your form letters and stick them up your ass. So you're loyal, obedient, respectful, and trustworthy. Great! What else? That question often receives blank stares, or confused silence. I'm supposed to put my ass on the line for you, and you can't answer a simple question? It isn't hard. Tell me why I want you. Make me invite you. At the very least, try to keep me interested. Many of the letters I get are no more than three sentences long, and I tune out after the first. The wino stumbles up again and starts tugging on Ronmexico's sleeve. Ron slaps his hand away and waves him off. Beat it. Loyalty, obedience, respect, trust. All fine qualities to have. But that's the standard minimum to keep folks around here from shooting you on sight. It tells me nothing. You have forty eight hours. Forty eight. That's more than enough time to borrow a friend's personality for five minutes to write a letter. Otherwise, you can stay on the streets until you come up with something to say. Call it tough love, if you must. And for future attempts, let's just assume the loyalty, respect, obedience stuff is a given. That way, if you fuck me over, you can say something like "Well, I never said I was loyal" and we can have a hearty laugh, then I'll kill you. The wino encroaches once more. RonMexico finally relents and pulls a five dollar bill from his pocket and tosses it toward the man. He watches as the drunkard tries to catch the bill several times as it flutters to the ground. Ron chuckles. Oh... What was I saying? |
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It's a... The man stares blankly at the nearby wall. damn shame... The wall is covered with some sort of advertisement. that we... Shaving cream now costs a dime? don't all... What a total rip-off. possess the... I could definitely get a close shave from ordinary soap. right qualities... Hmmm. That might give me a rash though. in order... It'd still save me a dime though. to fit... I remember when it was only a nickel. the CORRECT mold... Ah, the roaring twenties. in order... Those were the days. to get... Back then you get a loaf of bread, a bottle of milk, some hair grease, and shaving cream for a dime. an opportunity... Nowdays its all about money, money, money. in this world. It ain't like it used to be. Damn shame. |
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| Reply by: VonGaunt at Nov 27, '07 01:10 | |
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In his passings Salvatore overhears Ser Mexico's rantings... this particular line causes Sal to choke in laughter. |
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| Reply by: Sal_Giaquinto at Nov 27, '07 01:10 | |
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I'm in two minds Ron. I'll dispense with the overly descriptive imagery, all you guys need to know is that I'm in a hotel room, Poker is being played and I'm losing worse than the Miami Dolphins. So anyway on the one hand I'm shocked. Your commentary on the issue I raised concerning the family mark makes me amazed that anyone wants to join your fuckin family period. After all, who wants to waste their time applying to what based on your own comments can be construed as a piss-take family in which earning money and staying out of trouble earn brownie points with the Boss? I mean this in the most respectful way despite my bad language but you've said yourself that you are more concerned with actions than with family tags. You are more concerned with members staying out of trouble and earning money than as you say: "managing every aspect of their life," a comment made in relation to an issue as simple as these self-same family tags. Great. Maybe some people who want a nice easy life driving along the pacific coast-line with 100 dollars of dope in their trunk will be attracted to an organisation in which you run, but when you aren't fussed on members wearing the tag you created, have you the right to complain about the low calibre chumps that swarm around your door speaking the same old guff in efforts to secure an invite? You are a Boss and I am must be incredibly careful about what I say to you but the fact remains that by your own words you don't seem much fussed on the public appearance of your members so long as they stay out of trouble. Why therefore should you comnplain about receiving the chaff ahead of the wheat? |
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| Reply by: Rhydian-Roberts at Nov 27, '07 01:14 | |
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*Proctar throws a penny down the street for the wino to follow* You where talking about respectful invite requests. How about this? If a request had in it some previous information of this persons father or mother's acheivments or the respect they earned, then their request considering it was still up to standards could be looked into further. *Proctar notices the angry thugs rocking his car* You little barstards, No respect!! *Proctar runs off after them* |
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| Reply by: Proctar at Nov 27, '07 01:20 | |
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Rhydian- Earning money and staying out of trouble are... bad things? For fuck sake, if you aren't doing these two things, you're absolutely worthless in our business, and your boss should have shot you a long time ago like a lame horse. So, I'm not riding my family's ass about sporting the team colors. You come to a street speech where I'm championing fucking individuality to bitch about it. Think about that. For four... fucking... seconds. |
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| Reply by: RonMexico at Nov 27, '07 01:26 | |
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Rhydian, you seem to have your priorities out of line. Who gives a fuck if someone walks around wearing a sign with the family name on it? I'd be more concerned with whether or not they were loyal, than whether or not they exhibited the APPEARANCE of loyalty. My ancestors haven't always worn family tags, but I'd defy you to call them anything but loyal. Mr Mexico is more concerned about their ACTIONS, not their appearance. I'd say that's a reasonable perspective. |
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| Reply by: maxwell at Nov 27, '07 02:08 | |
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Ron I'm not suggesting they are bad things. What I'm saying is that any fool, after providing a mail full of the same rhetoric you are preaching against here, can engage in these things, things that are not in any way special. In terms of the four seconds, it would be easier for me to join with the light ripple of applause and congratulate you on what essentially is a speech that is flawless, cannot be disagreed with and ultimately changes nor tells us nothing about the average family recruit that we do not already know. Perhaps it may promote individuality as you hoped but something in my cynical being believes it may not. And even in four seconds my consciousness tells me that this is the safest and smartest course of action to take, to not disagree. But in fact my argument is not based on point scoring in this case. I'll leave that to basketball players. Nor am I bitching. I'm simply saying that I believe relaxation of rules such as the mandatory sporting of the family colours simply encourages John Criminal to write a lot of cliched guff in the hopes of securing an invite. Why create a Goddam name if you don't give a fuck if your boys wear it? Why not simply let their city of origin tell the take of the tape? Perhaps some Bosses regard not enforcing what they see as the trivial rules to make them something akin to Robin Hood, drinking ale with their men and sharing beds under the canopy of Sherwood Forest. I personally feel that carrying out your business as if you were hard as a coffin nail and serious as cancer might in its own way encourage individuality on the basis that the applicant will be aware that you are serious and stand for no bullshit. Human nature says that if you look like an easy mark you should be treated like one. Why waste the effort being the individual you are if you think the rhetoric will get you in? |
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| Reply by: Rhydian-Roberts at Nov 27, '07 02:11 | |
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| Agreed. Like my father always says, "Action talks, bullshit walks." There's no point in the family tag if you don't act the part... and if you don't act the part, why the fuck are you in the Family? RonMexico has the right idea. Good productive members, but not mindless fucking drones either. | |
| Reply by: Luke_the_Reaper at Nov 27, '07 02:12 | |
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| Er, just so it's clear. My agreement was to Maxwell, not Rhydia. | |
| Reply by: Luke_the_Reaper at Nov 27, '07 02:17 | |
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| Bleh, sorry to tripple post... After reading Rhydia's second comment, he makes a sense, at least in the easy mark regard. Family tags aren't as important as everything else, but I suppose they could serve as a sign to others that you're lenient. | |
| Reply by: Luke_the_Reaper at Nov 27, '07 02:22 | |
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Yes Luke I believe I see that. But likewise let me be clear. I'm not suggesting for one second that the appearance of loyalty is more important than loyalty itself. No one would disagree with this. He who does so is a a fool. Actions ALWAYS speak louder than words. What I'm saying is, if you are not serious in every aspect of running your business, you cannot necessarily feel justified in complaining when people do not take you seriously and request to join your organisation base on what believe you want to hear, rather than stressing their own attributes. Some might perceive lack of tags and general acceptance of a bottom line of not getting in trouble and earning cash as their carte blanche to waffle about loyalty for a bit until they are offered a job. |
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| Reply by: Rhydian-Roberts at Nov 27, '07 02:22 | |
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| Yeah I see what you're saying now Rhydia, and I agree. If you don't stress that you're serious, then you can't expect people to be all that serious when they ask for invitations, etc. | |
| Reply by: Luke_the_Reaper at Nov 27, '07 02:29 | |
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Well that's my point exactly. Why am I mentioning this when Ron speaks? Well regardless of what Ron might think of me after this performance, I'm a huge fan of his eloquence, his leadership and his contributions to this life of ours. Do I agree with everything he says? No. I especially disagreed with his ideas on family tags. But who am I? Ron runs his family as he considers proper and if I caused him serious problems he could have me executed with a nod of his head. He runs his family as he sees fit. The point I was merely trying to illustrate is that when you take no shit, you mainly get no shit. The more tolerance and patience you extend to others, the further that patience and tolerance is extended by them. The general public will never provide a solution to this problem. Some may heed Ron's call and change their attitudes when approaching the big dogs, but ultimately the solution lies with the leaders making clear they will take no more of this bullshit. Ron has made it clear with this speech that he will not. I only comment to ask does commentary such as this go far enough or do these time-wasters judge your susceptibility as a target to be exploited based on other criteria also? |
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| Reply by: Rhydian-Roberts at Nov 27, '07 02:42 | |
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Mr Mexico, dear friend of my father, and indeed his father before him... I speak today to tell you... Ahh fuck it. I was never one for pissing around at the start of a speech. ... How contradictory. But I digress... Look, surely you'd look for the necessities when reading invitation requests, and once they are in your family, see their qualities as they progress through the proverbial ranks? After all, it is the qualities on top of the necessities that you seem to be appealing for. But these extra qualities is what the Crew Leaders such as yourself look for when promoting to Made Man; not just to get an invite. I wouldn't want to set the bar too high for your family. An elite family is always helpful, but hidden qualities only arise to the surface when given a chance. Not everyone has oratory skills to rival yourself and "keep you interested" as you eloquently phrase it. Have a good day... |
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| Reply by: SexyBack at Nov 27, '07 09:41 | |
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I think what Mr Mexico is trying tog et at here is that instead of sending a request that states the minimum he'd like those who are seeking shelter with him to inject a little personality and effort into their request. I don't know about the rest of you but I'd get tired of hearing the same thing day in and day out from each person asking me for an invite. I'd welcome a little bit of effort some quirkyness maybe, just something to make things different. After all it's pretty clear whats expected of each person once they enter into a family so why not acknowledge the essential and put a little bit of yourself in the request. |
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| Reply by: Spanky_McSpangle at Nov 27, '07 09:46 | |
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* PheerME picks up the pile of discarded letters, and starts carefully examining the names and dates on the applications... * Hmm... this list will do quite nicely! Yeah what Ron Said! You guys suck! * PheerME starts looking around the crowd for people who match the names on the letters, toying with his gun with a sick look on his face. * |
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| Reply by: PheerME at Nov 27, '07 11:15 | |
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Honestly, I'm with Ron on this. I don't understand the difficulty of putting personality into an invitation request. Or is the problem that many people here today do not actually have a personality? These people coming in for invites are usually civilians. Think of it like a job interview. Make them believe that you belong there. As Ron said, make him want you Which, as I've understood, Ron wants a little piece of everyone. That's beside the point. Anyone new here reading this needs to understand that picking a leader based on their "cool" family name, or "awesome" ID picture is... well it's an interesting way to choose. *insert laugh track*. However, approaching them is not a task you just pass off. Effort. For God's sake, in the time it took me to speak these words, it would take you to write a well-rounded, thought out request that is just above the norm and gives you personality and character. It doesn't have to be deep character, but from what I've seen and heard, the people Ron speaks about are a bunch of talking heads. Mannequins. |
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| Reply by: -Rubik at Nov 27, '07 13:15 | |
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Is it at all wise to come to the streets with this? I know exactly what your saying and i know a lot of people will now think to themselves.. In order to get into this crew i have to pretend that i have, a little bit of good humor, a striking personality and at the same time keep close to the loyalty end of things... Instead of taking this to the streets, you should have kept it to yourself, don't you think you will just have people faking all this just to be a member of your family, we all know they can appear to be loyal but in actual fact are just little pricks who don't care about the rules, just want protection until the time suits them. You could now have people appearing to have spunk in order to get into your crew, instead of you hand picking the type of people you want for your family. So say you had 50 members, 30 of them could be nice shiny people wile the other 20 are just polishing themselves everyday...If you know what i mean... lol |
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| Reply by: PeterPetrelli at Nov 27, '07 14:29 | |
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Whilst I hate to take a detour from the the original topic of this speech, I find it hard not to comment on the magniloquent style of Sexyback. A word of warning my friend, verbosity for verbosity's sake will very rarely provide the desired effect. It takes a special wordsmith to be able to "pull off", as it were, a superfluous nature whilst still mainting coherence and logic. Verbosity, whilst often proving to be a quick route to prove one's lexical diversity, can be seen as both bombastic and boastful, and can often confuse not only the casual listener, but the speaker too. A random example..."proverbial ranks" in what way are they proverbial, unless we are talking of some ritualistic procedure that's hitherto unknown to myself. But alas...I digress. |
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| Reply by: Draize at Nov 27, '07 14:46 | |
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