Nah, maybe back in the 20's, 30's, and 40's... those wild west days of mob life were probably the best. By the 80's with the rico laws and the fbi cracking down it seems like it just became a nightmare.
My Grandfather was consiglieri of the Bonanno family, he spent alot of years on prison. At the end of his life he had had open heart surgery several times, he was on his way out when Giuliani brought all these indictments. He died before they could put him away, Im sure the stress of it killed him. If he would have lived he would have spent whatever time he had left in prison. It always seemed like a bad life to me, and he never seemed happy that I could remember....never smiled.
I think you summed it up well, and sorry about your grandfather. I believe that the me who became involved in the 1940's and earlier had few other choices, and may have wished they were born in the 1960's or later. Who in this day would want to be involved in group with rats and under surveillance, while other opportunities for good life are around. The only ones I feel bad for are the ones like the longshoreman who in today's gangland column was reported to have been fired from his job as a crane operator for being friends with an over 70 year old former Gravano friend and a few other old wise guys. Being on friendly terms with some is no crime. I don't think anyone living now is missing out.
