Whether you're in North America or Europe, guys like Borello are a dime a dozen. Every white working class area with more than 30.000 inhabitants has like 100 of Borello's. I've come across plenty of these types. Honestly, when they're young, to the average civilian, they're "tough" because they do actively hurt people. They rob a guy, they burglarize a home, they sell some childlike quantities of narcotics, they beat up a college kid at the local club or bar... The thing is, these are specific type or guys that are only out for some kind of reputation when they're young, but as they get older, they meet some truly hardcore types and then they get scared themselves because all of the sudden it gets "real".
I once saw a guy like this - I knew him quite well - kicking the shit out of an university student in front of his girlfriend for no apparent reason. Thought he was a badass. Some time later he started to get acquainted with a bigger drug dealer who trafficked in synthetic drugs. Of course the badass thought he was more badass because of this. Until he witnessed the drug dealer locking someone in a dog crate and pistol whipping him because a batch of pills got stolen. First thing this "badass" did was running to the cops to snitch on the drug dealer.
The thing is, these Borello-type of guys seem "tough" when they're young and out for a certain reputation - but in my experience they always prey on the easiest targets and time always shows that they're in fact weak punks that aren't built for the game when the game is really on.
Great post. True from your first sentence to your last. I grew up in a small town, and we had a few of that type even there. Not as bad as Borrello, but close. The only difference is the law was stricter there, and there were no mobsters to rat out in exchange for a deal.
