As TheDonBot hurried through his morning routine; cleaning himself, smoking a cigar, drinking some oil, he picked up a newspaper and flipped to the Obits section. Sipping on his oil slowly and taking a pull from his cigar, he began to think about funerals. It was pretty common law that respect was to be had at funerals, and that was something TheDonBot could get behind. If you had a problem with someone and didn't get the chance to tell them during their life, it didn't make it alright to show up at their funeral and disrespect them there.

Deciding to head out of the HQ and check out some of the recent funerals, TheDonBot cringed. Sure, the respect levels were fairly adequate. But there was an age-old occurrence that still happened in funerals, and he wasn't sure why. Making his way from the funeral home to a nearby street corner, TheDonBot turned to speak in the direction of Joey Mousepad and Clamps.

"No Witness Statement required... This is something that throws my circuits for a loop. Why do leaders and their upper structure find it necessary to say this at the funerals of those recently deceased? Is it solely to 'appease the masses?' Is it because they wish to let almost everyone know they had a hand in killing that person?"

TheDonBot paused, pulling one of his trademark cigars. He didn't really feel like smoking one right now, but he'd heard that taking periodic breaks in your speech would help those who had short attention spans to stick through it.

"Would it not make more sense to leave 'no ws required' OUT of our funeral homes? If one of my members winds up dead, and I don't already know the cause... It's pretty damn safe to say that I WILL be looking for the Witness Statement. If I know damn well why the person's lying there, does it really do anyone any good to state that I'm NOT looking for the killer?"

Clamps and Joey scratched their heads, undoubtedly now thinking that TheDonBot wanted to kill them. Fucking idiots, it was so hard to have a good conversation these days.... TheDonBot got lost in thought as he finally lit his cigar, waiting to hear other peoples thoughts on the matter.

TheDonBot blew a cloud of smoke into the air as he listened the the first persons input. He sighed a little internally, for he knew the overall mindset of these Streets beforehand and knew that it was going to be a long road before the mentality overall would change.

"I do get where you're coming from, however I disagree completely. Since when did it become alright to air your dirty laundry in public, at someone's funeral? Since when did it become standard for the need to appease the minority to outweigh sensibility?"

He flicked his cigar on the ground and stubbed it out.

"And furthermore, why should appeasing other cities/crews in regards to internal matters weigh in on this at all? If it's an internal matter, to be frank, it's not a single person's business other than the city/crew involved in my opinion."

Very valid point you bring up here, TheDonBot. I'd even take it a step further and add that never in my whole life have I heard these words uttered at a funeral in the Old Country, no matter how a person died. It is a bizarre ritual that could be better thought out and worded, at the very least. Instead of a blaring 'No W/S required', perhaps something along the lines of 'Terrible loss, JoeBlow, but at least the family's questions have been answered', if indeed the family feels the need to get a point across to the masses.

Reinhardt has already answered the question and provided the perfect reasons behind it. 

Perhaps it's different if you're in a family, or even a city, of just 3 TheDonBot but for most of us these things are of interest and relevance of a very large number of people. People that would be very worried if they feared that those at the top of this thing of ours weren't aware of what had happened or why it had happened. There are a number of ways this could be handled, the majority of us just choose to do it in the smart way that inconveniences the least number of people within our families or cities with additional load on their inbox and is the most effective way to get the message in front of those who will be looking for the aforementioned information because they care.

As for wording it in a different way? Why?

This is someone that ended up dead. This isn't someone I wish to invest more of my time into and leave a nice personal note along with their passing. If they were deserving of such, they would receive it. Otherwise, they clearly will not.

You're welcome to leave any messages you wish when those close to you fall. That's free will right there. But to assume I or anyone that holds a view like me is doing it wrong without knowing anything about the situation at hand or the reasons for the passing is a little patronizing and a myopic view of things. Sometimes information is shared broadly and sometimes cards are held close to the chest. Having a 'default' solution that can work in either scenario is both clever and efficient, when you're the one that might have to roll out such things. 

I agree with TshDhoNimh and Reinhardt about the purpose of the statement. When someone drops- particularly someone of a higher rank- people tend to feel antsy. They like to know that the boss is aware and that the situation is under control. So the idea of making an appearance at the funeral to reassure your own family- not to mention others- certainly makes sense to me.

That being said, every time I hear "No WS required" I always see it as a missed opportunity. Surely any public comment by the crewleader without asking for a WS would have the exact same effect, no?

This is someone that ended up dead. This isn't someone I wish to invest more of my time into and leave a nice personal note along with their passing. If they were deserving of such, they would receive it. Otherwise, they clearly will not.

You're welcome to leave any messages you wish when those close to you fall. That's free will right there. But to assume I or anyone that holds a view like me is doing it wrong without knowing anything about the situation at hand or the reasons for the passing is a little patronizing and a myopic view of things. Sometimes information is shared broadly and sometimes cards are held close to the chest. Having a 'default' solution that can work in either scenario is both clever and efficient, when you're the one that might have to roll out such things. 

This was well argued, TsuDhoNimh. A man with an eighth of your gifts could most likely take 10 seconds and come up with something that achieves the same effect as "No WS required" for each individual situation- and the world would be slightly less bland for it. 

While I obviously don't think that TheDonBot has the right to tell other people how to handle their own business, I think it's fair to raise the question that, even if we still speak a single line at a funeral, whether a slight increase of variety would present a more appropriate comment for a eulogy. I don't see this as a major, pressing issue in our society- but is it an area where we could potentially improve?

That being said, I feel like most of what I'd like to argue here would be more appropriate for OOC Avenue than the streets, so I'm not sure I have much more to contribute to this discussion in this venue. 

Sadly, while you might view all the nuances of the world as a wondrous thing and something to be treasured, some won't share your view Don Kathryn. Sader still, for many they simply can't understand it. The minute we start to add in that little color to proceedings it raises some to see conspiracy, hidden messages and hidden meanings all around us. For some it's an innocent failure to understand, for others it's a far more serious failure to want to understand. In both cases, it's a headache. 

My issue isn't that it's too much work or that I or others aren't capable of doing it. Many of our wonderful leaders are incredibly witty and intelligent folk that could happily wax lyrical with their eulogies should they wish to. It's simply that doing so on so many occasions can cause nothing but problems.

There's only so much that can realistically be said as a eulogy. It isn't the time to begin getting into a nuanced discussion on what led to the downfall of someone. Anything less than a nuanced discussion on such a thing ignores vitally important factors. Sure it could be weeks of missed following orders to submit shot reports or failing to donate a single dollar to their family for over a month was the straw that broke the camels back, but none of these things ever happen in isolation and are all part of the bigger picture of who that person was and what they were contributing... or failing to contribute as the case may be... to this thing of ours. To even begin trying to hint at things or to provide anything other than a boilerplate condolence is simply inviting ambiguity and confusion from many directions. Some innocent, some not so.  

TheDonBot listened as Tsu and Kathryn spoke their minds. There seemed to be quite the amount of confusion as to his intent behind this conversation. TheDonBot knew it certainly wasn't his place to tell other people how to act, and he couldn't actually recall having said anything of the sort.

"Tsu, nice to see you out and about! I'll agree with you on the part about not flooding the inboxes of those within upper structures - stopping at a funeral definitely negates the need for that. I think you may have misunderstood me slightly, though. I don't recall saying nor did I mean that slipping the 'no WS required' into a funeral home conversation was 'wrong', I merely noted that I disagree with it. Furthermore, I'd go so far as to say that you'll never personally see me dropping by a funeral with this line, as I feel my time is better spent elsewhere."

TheDonBot turned his attention to Kathryn.

"You too seem to be under the belief that 'people feeling antsy' is something to be concerned with. Personally I don't agree with this, but as you stated and as I'm intelligent enough to know, it's not my call on how other people handle their operations."

"If there's an issue with one of my members and it calls for their death, I feel as if stopping by their funeral simply to say that I'm not looking for their killer is actually harmful for my operation. The way that I look at it, it's not my job to 'stop people from being antsy'."

"Mostly my point is this - we here at The Robot Mafia like to take care of things internally. If you're not working for us, it's not really any of your concern why a member of ours died. You won't ever see us actively stating that we're NOT looking for a Witness Statement, because if we were, you'd know it."

A very interesting statement, TsuDhoNimh.

On one hand, you seemingly have: "the nuances of the world" and "that little color".

Opposing that, you seem to cast: "conspiracy", "innocent failure to understand", "headache", and "cause nothing but problems".

I think you're correct in stating that these are opposing forces: rocking the boat, being creative, adding flavor can sometimes lead to headaches and problems from people who don't like it or don't understand it.

But if  there's a choice between adding some nuanced color to the world or simply gliding along the path of least resistance, I think it's at least worthwhile to raise the question of what sort of legacy you want to leave- although, as you've already mentioned, these colors are sometimes accompanied by headaches.

Obviously, there's a larger tension between these two forces that goes a lot further than funeral comments. You're correct in saying that personal preferences go a long way here; as for me, I feel like it's always worth asking or exploring areas for nuance and color. 

There's only so much that can realistically be said as a eulogy. It isn't the time to begin getting into a nuanced discussion on what led to the downfall of someone. Anything less than a nuanced discussion on such a thing ignores vitally important factors. Sure it could be weeks of missed following orders to submit shot reports or failing to donate a single dollar to their family for over a month was the straw that broke the camels back, but none of these things ever happen in isolation and are all part of the bigger picture of who that person was and what they were contributing... or failing to contribute as the case may be... to this thing of ours. To even begin trying to hint at things or to provide anything other than a boilerplate condolence is simply inviting ambiguity and confusion from many directions. Some innocent, some not so.  

I should be clear that I never  mentioned replacing "No WS required" with a longer, exhaustive review of what this person had done to deserve their death. But wouldn't even a brief, silent appearance at the funeral accomplish the same effect as "No WS required" through a more fitting, appropriate response?

No.

Sometimes less really is more.