by B. » Tue Dec 26, 2017 10:05 pm
When someone is inducted, it is typically a busy period: a whirlwind of new business opportunities, introductions to other members, new information, conversations and meetings they previously wouldn't have had access to. It isn't surprising that some guys would forget. People have a hard enough time remembering their wedding anniversary, and they knew the date of that in advance, their wife reminds them every year, it's written on legal documents, etc. Yet people still forget their anniversary with all of that.
In a lot of cases, at least historically, a guy doesn't know the details of his making ceremony in advance. There are exceptions, but according to most informants and witnesses, a guy isn't told, "The ceremony is going to be on month/day/year." Many of them are given a general heads up a short time before the date, but unless there was another event in their lives or something big in the news at the time, they wouldn't have a reason to remember the specific date. The mob doesn't have "initiation anniversary parties" to remind them of the date every year and to some of them the date may not be important -- they were inducted and that's what matters to them. I have to think for a second sometimes to remember the exact year I graduated high school and I remember the month but no way in Hell can I remember the exact day... I don't care at all to remember graduating high school, but it was important to me that I graduated. Does that make sense?
On the subject of transfers, Alphonse Persico would have been made and transferred to the Colombos in 1971. Bianco was transferred back to the Patriarca family in early 1973. The informant mentioned in the other Bianco thread that other Colombo members were following Bianco's lead and requesting transfers around 1973 but were turned down and told "No more transfers." Would be interesting to know if shutting down transfers that year was specific to the Colombo and if it was temporary, or if it applied to other families and/or was a permanent rule.
When someone is inducted, it is typically a busy period: a whirlwind of new business opportunities, introductions to other members, new information, conversations and meetings they previously wouldn't have had access to. It isn't surprising that some guys would forget. People have a hard enough time remembering their wedding anniversary, and they knew the date of that in advance, their wife reminds them every year, it's written on legal documents, etc. Yet people still forget their anniversary with all of that.
In a lot of cases, at least historically, a guy doesn't know the details of his making ceremony in advance. There are exceptions, but according to most informants and witnesses, a guy isn't told, "The ceremony is going to be on month/day/year." Many of them are given a general heads up a short time before the date, but unless there was another event in their lives or something big in the news at the time, they wouldn't have a reason to remember the specific date. The mob doesn't have "initiation anniversary parties" to remind them of the date every year and to some of them the date may not be important -- they were inducted and that's what matters to them. I have to think for a second sometimes to remember the exact year I graduated high school and I remember the month but no way in Hell can I remember the exact day... I don't care at all to remember graduating high school, but it was important to me that I graduated. Does that make sense?
On the subject of transfers, Alphonse Persico would have been made and transferred to the Colombos in 1971. Bianco was transferred back to the Patriarca family in early 1973. The informant mentioned in the other Bianco thread that other Colombo members were following Bianco's lead and requesting transfers around 1973 but were turned down and told "No more transfers." Would be interesting to know if shutting down transfers that year was specific to the Colombo and if it was temporary, or if it applied to other families and/or was a permanent rule.