sneakyrat listens to Stephanie's comment and has something to add on to it...

Stephanie... i have noticed this before and there is something you must understand. I have known a few that have received "benefits" from what their fathers or mothers have done, and then when they passed on and their kins joined this thing or ours... they had to start from scratch. Why? You might ask? Because they havent gotten to the level their fathers did to carry on their relations. The moral is... what you do now is even more important than what your ancestors did. Dont expect anything for your kin even if you haved received such "benefits", and i am talking general here. And my understanding is... if a person receives such "benefits", he sets the bar high for himself... because expectations are pending from others. You better see to these expectations if your kin is going to expect anything. Expecting something simply because you are used to it is wishful thinking. And wishful thinking never gets you far, unless your sleeves are rolled and you are ready to work for it. You cannot just sit there and expect, actions are always called for!

Sir sneakyrat, I believe you may or may not mistake what I am saying. My bloodline would never ask for anything. I am just saying once again those that get those "benefits" repeatedly will learn to expect such treatment regardless of what their parents did or did not do. Can you really blame them though? I mean once their bloodline has gotten enough "benefits" it would be natural for them to expect it from those that have enabled it.  

Well Stephanie, i was'nt really referring to you. And you are respectful wich is why i want to comment here... they may have certain expectations after receiving such "benefits" but they certainly will be disapointed for not receiving any more. What i am saying is, yes they may have certain expectations but they are bound to be deceived if they dont work for it! Bottom line is, you have to work no matter what.

Would it not be easier to just not take a hand out then? I mean especially if the bar is raised high from the start. Seems like a lot of extra work. Don't get me wrong I am not against hard work. I just don't see the beauty in possibly being set up to fail if the demands turn out to be too much.

Anybody that grows to expect anything at all from other people is in trouble already. They are setting themselves up for disappontment.

Maybe so. I know a few of my ancestors have taught me not to expect anything from anyone. And as you pointed out Godfather CrazyNine it did indeed land to some disappointment. 

However, I just wanted to add something new to this conversation. As far as I can tell it just seems a sad waste to always enable people to eventually come to expect these benefits if they should work hard or based on their ancestors. 

I think we may be forgetting about something (me included until now).

Protecting a member has really nothing to so with giving a member what they deserve. It's about the leader investing money ro protect an asset that will become more valuable with the pass of time.

If the son of a well known hitter that worked for my city knocks on my door and he tells me he has every intention in following his farher's footsteps and be an assassin, I may invest in him so when he reaches a high rank and has a great gun he will be very hard to kill.

People that expect to be pampered are thinking of themselves and not the family they are joining.

I can understnad that but then what if those plans fall through. Say they don't do as they once thought they had wanted to. Would it not seem like a waste of money if they should not become of any importance to your family at all? 

Yes.

Your point?

Just asking. I like to get other people's views it usually helps to understand how people think.

Thank you for your time Godfather CrazyNine.

I can't imagine how much better you know me for giving you an answer to such an obvious question, but I'm glad you seem satisfied with the answer.

Now that everyone has stopped accompanying the word benefits with "quotation mark hand gestures" I think I'll weigh in on this point.

When I arrived in the States from sunny England,the first person I looked for was a gent called Godfather Iota; but unfortunately the war had just finished, and he was taking a break up at his lakehouse. So I went to a good friend of his, Deimne. He hooked me up with a place to stay for a few days and an envelope full of cash for whatever I need. He personally paid the year's salary of a couple of guys so they could watch and make sure I was ok.

When I did get in touch with Iota, he spent the equivalent of a defence budget for a small african nation to keep me safe and quickly installed me as his number 2 man. Did I expect anything less? Fantastically presumptious of me darlings, but no I did not.

The grandfather on my mother's side devoted his life to Chicago, and even before that, New York. To expect that service to repaid by giving benefits to the next of kin is to understand a central tenet of la cosa nostra. Our thing is one of unity, togetherness. Let's not forget that the roots of la cosa nostra both in Sicily and here in the States come from closing ranks against the corrupt officials. it is only natural to expect your family's friends to take care of you, if your line has given them exemplary service. For me, it's not an expectation of who my forebears were so much as what they were.

However, I am of the minority here, evidentally cretinous delinquents like the thankfully dead _Recro over here come hat in hand with their begging bowl because they think their father was a big shot, rather than out of any understanding of our thing.

Bye loves.

Waltzes away