Jimmy Bulger

[boxerbilly]

Anyone here grow up in Boston when he was there? What was it like?

I ask because I grew up with the Italian Mob. Watched all the sons take the fall for the fathers in the 80's. Went to school with grandsons of guys. You could not touch them. RULES. They got away with whatever they wanted to.

They popped Mad Dog Sullivan here. We had an a crew and a b crew. Always warring. Car bombs. Shots outs in public locations. Innocents got killed.

But really, no one was worried all that much. People just gave the Italians wide berth if they looked like they were mob. They did not hide they were. You could tell. Except the old guys. They always looked sort of poor. Never dressed up.

Sorry. I am in Rochester. You know they place no one ever heard of but everyone has heard of. I can start with Kodak and just list 100's down the line. You seen the name and paid no attention. Like French's mustard? Drink Jolt Cola? No where Xerox is? Like I said, the place no one ever heard of.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?n...,4427971&hl=en

If you read the above you may understand why the blacks had more stringent rules on the street. Those guys knew about chock holds 50 years before the Gracies.
It was worse in the 70's. I only heard stories because I was to young.

[boxerbilly]

Now we are not exactly a large city. I can probably hit any corner of the county in 30 minutes starting any place in the county.

But all you older guys. Probably even some younger than me. If you grew up in a city on the east coast or Midwest you know there were rules. You may have forgot. But you knew them then. Were you were not welcome. Who you were never to talk to. What kids were hands off no matter what. And I know for certain this is not an east coast thing. Every place has rules. About the only time anything goes is when you a) all indications point your getting killed. or B) you get mugged. Both are highly unlikely. it can happen but the odds are low.

I got mugged once with 2 or 3 friends. We did nothing. Bats and knives. Friend had a knife to his neck. I was held by a guy and another was ****ed and ready to crack me. We followed the rules. They took what they wanted and split. No one got hurt. Now, that's a mugging. You never see it coming. You think they are going to come at you when you are ready for them? If one of us did anything, we all go down. Call it luck or just the era and local. Plus they were close to our age maybe held a year or 2 over us. We were playing to close to the border at night.Some things are better today. Some things are worse.

You know how ready I was to leave here? I loved San Clemente. I came back because I am a New Yorker. I missed the place. Thank god a lot has changed since then. It can still be a hairy place. And it can happen anyplace now, county wide but it ain't the same. In many ways it is so nice. In others it is worse than ever. Maybe more so.

[boxerbilly]

Since no one seems to have been in Boston then , I took it upon myself to see if anyone had wrote anything about growing up there then.

Well, I came across this- http://www.amazon.com/All-Souls-Fami.../dp/0807072133

Read some of the comments. I thought I had it rough.