What Happens When You Mess With the Wise Guys? FBI Agent Joe Pistone, AKA Donnie Brasco, Fills Us In

On today's Fri-yay edition of Pardon My Take, Mr. Cat and Mr. Commenter brought on a unique guest to close out the month of February. Former FBI Agent Joe Pistone, also known as Donnie Brasco, joined the show to talk about the mob, the in's and out's of working undercover, and the overall life as an Italian mobster. Obviously, you have to be careful when living a life like this. What are the things you can't do?

Joe Pistone: The other thing that will get you killed - you don't fool around with a Wise Guy's wife, daughter, or girlfriend. That'll get you killed. They have these rules and they live by them. They used to anyways, you know, the mob today. You know what the big downfall of the mafia was? And I saw it. Young kids using drugs. 

Mr. Commenter: Like Christopher, on The Sopranos, when he gets addicted to heroin and sits on Cosette, and then he has to kill him on the side of the road. 

Mr. Cat: No spoilers.

Mr. Commenter: No spoilers at all. Here's a dumb question - You mentioned a Wise Guy's wife, daughter, girlfriend. What if you sleep with a Wise Guy's mom? 

Joe Pistone: (laughing) You're dead. 

Mr. Commenter: I don't know, I thought maybe that was a loophole. Maybe she's lonely, who knows?

Joe Pistone: Maybe if you're single, you're alright, but if you're married, they don't look too kindly on that.

Lesson learned: do NOT mess with the Wise Guys. The life of Joe Pistone seems like the farthest thing from a boring one. I highly recommend listening to the entirety of today's interview for some other great stories.