No, you are not. I enjoy both as well. Fruitcake is just plain delicious. I think Christmas letters are fun (And no, I do not send one. I don’t have even have any kids to brag about). I go home for lunch everyday, and enjoy this time of year when I have a couple of good letters to read while I’m eating. Most are from family members I don’t get to see very often. I like reading about who got married or had a new baby or moved. They’re even better when they come with pictures so I can see how everyone has changed or how the kids have grown (or so my husband can comment, "TOO MANY KIDS! She’s worse than my sister!). I like being updated on what everyone’s up to. Then again, most of the ones I get don’t contain too much bragging. They’re pretty much strictly informational.
Surely Lefty isn’t the only member of the overwhelming horde in Asheville. 
I don’t particularly care for fruitcake, and I never get Christmas letters.
However, I’m wondering if you’d be willing to share your family’s fruitcake recipe, because my father loves the stuff and never gets it.
One of my maternal aunts sends out a Christmas Letter every year, and none of it is what’s really going on with that branch of my family. If it were, then it would include arrests, drug convictions, children born out-of-wedlock, and various other things worthy of daytime talk shows.
I don’t need Springer. I just need to ask my mom about her family.
Xmas letters I get are a great source of material for me. They provide me with endless comedic fuel with which to lambaste the distant, distant relatives from whom I receive them.
People who send them, are, in most cases justifiably proud of their lives and “accomplishments”, but the “accomplishments” are usually so mundane and, well, pointless, that they deserve the scorn that’s being heaped upon them here.
I use this example to justify NOT sending Christmas Letters.
In one year, I saved two people from burning buildings (it’s my job and all) got a promotion a raise and a new vehicle and was the architect and manager of a mobile communications network for Emergency Services personnel. I spent Thanksgiving handing out food to local shelters, and Xmas, bringing clothing, food, and toys to local families in need. I sent out cards like every year, signed with something like “with all the joy of the new year, love, Mr. and Mrs. Jockey”
That same year, we get two seperate letters, both proclaiming how wonderful their children (seperately) were doing, and absolutely filled with braggadocio about their, really, minor achievements. Both of them had kids that were in like the 4th and 5th grades.
A light hearted story, but honestly, no one REALLY gave a shit, no matter how much they SAY they did.
At the root of it, IMO, are people so desperate to be noticed that they use any excuse to stand in the spotlight. They need attention so badly, that there’s nothing they won’t highlight to gain some measure of renown, and THAT, at least in my opinion, is truly sad.
But, I suppose, indicative of the ‘me’ culture in which we live.
My Mom (who made some awesome fruitcake) used to send out a Christmas letter. My brother, the English professor, marked it up and graded it and mailed it back. After that, none of us kids ever got a copy of the letter again.
Also, didn’t National Lampoon do a funny XMAS letter a while back?
Actually, no. (Though that’s a good guess).
It’s the impersonal bragging that does it for me. I got one of these letters from a “friend” once, far away from Christmas. It was even more bizarre then. At least at Christmas, there’s a sort of horrible tradition about the practice. In the middle of May, it’s just weird to hear out of the blue from someone you haven’t spoken to for years. No questions. Nothing that had anything to do with me (other than I had met her husband). Just bragging. I read it thinking “so, should I be applauding? Is that what this is for?”
Even weirder. She sent me a second copy when I failed to respond to the first one.
Speaking as someone who sends out Christmas letters: I never send something I wouldn’t want to read.
I have never received a complaint about my letters. In fact, my mother usually passes on whenever she’s received a call from a relative or friend. She gets compliments on my behalf. If she didn’t, believe me, I’d know.[1]
Like I said: I never send a letter I would not like to read, which means no bragging. I don’t think things like “Fang is talking in complete sentences now, unfortunately most of those sentences start with the words ‘I want,’ and tend to involve choo-choo trains in some way, shape, or form,” or “Our new house has a nice lawn, which Fang enjoys, but Maus is learning the joys of lawn care. He has been contemplating replacing it with Astroturf, but it turns out that’s against the homeowners’ agreement.” I try to temper accomplishments with humor. It would beat the hell out of reading something that says, “Fang is talking in complete sentences at two-and-a-half. Isn’t he bright?” or “We’re doing so well that we bought a big house with a big lawn.”
Again, I’m not too worried that we’ll send out a letter people would hate. Even if my mother’s friends wouldn’t say something, my sister would hit me with a clue-by-four.[2]
[1] This is the woman who spread the news to pretty much everyone in Raleigh when I got divorced, but didn’t tell any one when Mrs. Magill and I got engaged.
[2] She’s the one who told me about the pool she, my brother, and my best friend had going on how long my first marriage would last.
At the root of it, IMO, are people so insecure that they can’t stand anyone else being proud of their accomplishments. They need attention so badly that to focus on someone else for a millisecond feels like they have somehow lost out on precious attention. That, at least in my opinion, is truly sad.
But, I suppose, it is indicative of the “me” culture in which we live.
All depends on how you look at it, doesn’t it? You think writing Christmas letters is a sign of a desperate need for attention, I think being unable to read them without being incensed by them is a sign of being insecure.
I agree. Good ones are a source of pleasure. Bad ones are a source of amusement. I don’t understand why people are so pissed off. What harm is being done that deserves such vitriol in return?
I would have never, in my wildest imagination, that I would find THREE people who enjoy fruitcake. 
To further clarify, my vitriol was targeted towards people who brag incessantly in their letters. Letters meant to amuse or inform aren’t particularly loathsome to me per se. However, the people who use their Christmas card as a platform to brag deserve to be put in their place. Spending six paragraphs crowing about your kids is inappropriate at best and downright tacky at worst.
Now, before you tell me that it’s ridiculous to let this get my blood pressure up, let me assure you that I’m not spending my days stewing over Christmas letters. But I did think it would make a nice, seasonal rant.
If you love these letters, despite their inherent tackiness, well good for you. You are a better person than me.
Bah humbug!
Okay, you got me. It has nothing to do with the fact that my uncle can’t be arsed to acknowledge my family during the rest of the year, not even so much as a phone call to say Happy Birthday. It has nothing to do with the fact that our names weren’t even mentioned in the mass-produced, impersonal letter and card. (It said Mr. and Mrs. S and Family on the address, that’s it). It’s not about the fact that they didn’t even ask how we’re doing, or express interest in our lives.
No, it’s because somehow, I’m insecure that my aunt and uncle are having fun playing tennis and making money. Yeah, that’s it.
:rolleyes:
(FWIW, I’m not foaming at the mouth about it, or fuming, or anything. I just kind of laughed, rolled my eyes and chalked it up to “leave it to Uncle Mike to be a condescending braggart!”)
Sorry, but I wasn’t talking about you. I was merely pointing out that buttonjockey’s take on the matter wasn’t the only perspective. You did get that I was parodying his proclaimation, right? My guess is that sometimes, the people writing the letter need attention. Other times, the people reading it are insecure. I will leave it to you to figure out what is going on in your own case.
And what better way than having a good laugh at their expense? Ridicule is the pin with which the balloon of pomposity is popped!
That’s the spirit!
Actually, I’m thankful right now that I have not received a single Christmas newsletter. And I don’t mind saying that I hope it stays that way.
I have received two Christmas letters this year. Both from people that I consider friends. Good friends even. The prolblem is this thing called life keeps getting in the way of our staying in touch. If I called either of these people and told them I would be in their town tomorrow, a dinner invite would follow. Hell one of them was the best man at my wedding 32 years ago!
Anyway they both sent chatty letters that filled me in on their lives. sometime the news is good (we toured the F1 tracks of Europe, or Junior is walking, but not very well at 16 months) or it could be bad (dad died in Aug) but either way they keep me in touch with people I care about.
FTR record both cards included handwritten notes asking me when I would be nearby and would I stop by for dinner.
Also I don’t send these, but I do enjoy them.
PS I like a GOOD homemade fruitcake. The store bought pieces of shit can go to hell.
How about we differentiate between actual written letters, that are usually personal and meant for a specific individual or family, with warm thoughts, include the good and bad in their lives, and ask about you; and the Christmas newsletter, which is basically an impersonal, mass-produced form letter that’s sent to everyone in your roledex, and is nothing but bragging about how you’re making more money and playing golf all the time?
Is that fair?
But this is the kind I LIKE!
I read a real WINNER of a Christmas letter today.
It talked about how the family welcomed triplets into the world, but one of the kids was born with Down’s syndrome, so they gave that one away to friends at their church.
The worst part is that they claimed this was all a part of God’s special plan for this child. I mean, damn … if you can’t handle the idea of a child with Down’s syndrome, don’t pin it on GOD when you wriggle you way out of the situation.
:eek:
No. freaking. way.
You’re joking, right? THEY GAVE A KID AWAY?!?
This is bullshit, right? You’re parodying? Jesting?
If not, this is f***ing evil behavior on the part of the parents. I hope the kid went to a good home – at least, one hopes they’d make sure of that, though obviously church-going is no guarantee – jeez. I mean, THE PARENTS go to church, and look what THEY did. This is so messed up, the mind boggles. No. no. no.
Please, tell me you’re joking. I will happily be called credulous.
Mrs. Furthur
Apparently these friends of theirs really wanted to raise a special-needs child. So, really, it’s a win-win situation.