What makes a guy a rat? Specifically, what makes a guy a mob rat? I mean a tried and true goodfella. You know ’em, don’t you? Those guys who wanna pride themselves on having had their fingers pinched and their palms burned, but then turn around and become stool pigeons? The guys who strutted around town like they were stars while abusing others only to later collapse like accordions and broken down valises once their mob status became a bit inconvenient for them?
There’s an old saying that goes like this, “There’s no honor amongst thieves.” Well, that’s not entirely true. Not at all, at least not in all cases, especially years back when people, in general, seemed to have carried themselves with a little more honor and a little more grace than people do nowadays. The same holds very true in the underworld.
Years ago, most mob guys were so fuckin’ proud to have gotten straightened out that they revered that “button” and would have swallowed a poison pill before dishonoring themselves and their family surname.
