An irritated Brit has caused a stir online after slamming an American friend for “bragging”. The Brit, who posted about receiving a Christmas card from an American friend has somehow received the same response from the online community.
The post was shared on Mumsnet on Saturday and has gathered over 75 responses in a matter of hours. They started the post by explaining about getting the yearly Christmas card from someone the user described as an American acquaintance. The user then reflects on a perceived trend in American culture, specifically during the Christmas season, where people engage in what they interpret as bragging or showcasing their achievements.
The post read: “We got the annual christmas card from an american acquaintance. I say acquaintance as they are a friend of a friend and we couldn’t care less. What is it though with this American trend of bragging every christmas? Its like competitive parenting. This card is full of “my beauty business is doing SO well this year, little johnny really loves his music and has a future as an aspiring musician, little janey does cheerleading practice 3 times a week, she’s so dedicated” and so on.
“Am I being unreasonable to think, this is a stupid tradition? Also, I think if we have time, we should send one back full of stupid shit. Can I have suggestions of what to say?.”
Several social media users quickly flocked to the post and most of them had a similar reply. One user said: “America is huge. Not all Americans are the same. Just thought I’d say that in case you didn’t know. First of all Brits do this as well – the inevitable round robin or scribbled note in the card about kids’ achievements. (And just look at FB/IG and MN for all the bragging FFS)
“I’m sure many here will proudly post on FB, tell friends or pop it in a Christmas card that their DS has done so well in his GCSE’s and got into uni. But it’ll be told with a faux deprecating “We always thought he was such a lazy dimwit – but he’s surprised us all and got into Oxford!’”
A second user: “I’m American and lots of ‘us’ don’t do cards anymore and didn’t do this when we did, so not sure it’s an American trend. Mumsnet sure do like to talk shit about us”
A third user: “I don’t think they’re braggy, it’s just a positive newsletter keeping you up to date. It’d be a bit of a downer receiving a letter detailing all their problems – although I suspect they go that way as people get older.
“I think as a country we’re not great at just being proud of ourselves tbh.”
Another user commented: “It’d not an American thing. Actually, the only person i know who did this is a middle class Brit who wrote it all in an email because they were donating the money from stamps and cards to charity.”
