Glad you wrote this, NYM, because it's all true. The "glamour" of the Mob, my ass! Best representation I saw was in Donnie Brasco, when Sonny Black's crew were reduced to breaking open parking meters for quarters.
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I think that Hollywood's version of it, The Godfather, and all the other movies and shows made about it grossly inflated peoples perceptions of it. I know it did mine. And of course even many informers never really gave a deep synopsis of what its really like to be a member. There was good, but there was also a lot of negative. And as I said in the last few decades the scales have tipped into the negative column heavily.
glad you enjoyed my take on it
