To think that in 2020 round Robin letters are especially pointless.

[Whalewithnosnail]

I hate these letters even in normal years (always love the Janet and Roy threads). A pointless opportunity to gloat about things no one cares about. This year's have been particularly dry- "we couldn't holiday in Italy this year, but Mavis learned to knit' and "we have had to keep up with the grandchildren by zoom". Yeah we all have- we know.

This morning we received one from two people I previously thought relatively normal, except this letter was from their dog. It was two sides of A4 with an in depth discussion of what they had grown in the garden (378 potatos, 4 varieties of lettuce, heritage carrots etc etc), an entire paragraph about a squirrel visitor to the garden and, mostly bizarrely, a paragraph about each member of the family from the cat's perspective. For example, "my big brother got married this year, everyone had to wear a mask and I wonder if these are uncomfortable because I could see tears in their eyes".

WTF?!?! So AIBU (or a total scrooge) to think that in a global pandemic you can spare us all a detailed account of your year?

Anyone else get any good ones?

I LOVE RR. They’re unbearably smug and genuinely hilarious. Two of my parents’ friends still send them and we all can’t wait until they arrive. They’re SO competitive and truly one of the most entertaining things at Christmas.

@zztopguitarsolo that sounds epic! My MIL sends one and we don't get a copy, but I know she includes bad things as people in cards write - "so sorry to hear of your husband's erectile dysfunction" or whatever private woe she has chosen to share this year. I suspect her other children get a more favorable write up!

@Whalewithnosnail Ahh, you've made me think of Catthiefkeith. She could write amazing Janet and Roy letters. I miss her humour on here.

My mum always shows me the ones she receives. I am a nosey cow so enjoy reading whoever they are and for however many decades I haven’t seen them.

I love them. And not just to bitch about, but because I like knowing more about people I care about but don’t generally speak to much.

My mum never gets one from her cousin, because her cousin knows that she’s snooty about them. So then my mum will desperately try to read my copy😀

For people who enjoy the sillier ones, peppered with stealth boasts; Simon Hoggart made a collection of cringe RR letters, called "The Hamster Who Loved Puccini"! I used to have the book. God knows where it's gone.

I disagree. We have one set of friends whose letter is usually one long list of all the exotic places they have been to that year. This year's letter had one trip they went on just before lockdown, and the rest was just general news, which to me is far more interesting.

The one thing that kept me going for Christmas was there round robin that’s addressed to former occupants here, like 15yrs ago I think.

It was utter cringe last year so I felt sure that this year would be a corker:

No.

Just a card

My parents used to get one from an old family friend who'd win the gold medal for bragging! I was always desperate for them to write one back along the lines of " MrsZola and MrsZola's Dsis have launched a new business together - we're pleased to say the brothel is a roaring success! Meanwhile, our DS has also made great strides in his career and has managed to secure new growing sites in out of the way, secure locations..." 😂

I get one from my cousin and I love it! I love hearing about their lives, they do nice, low key things which are kind and thoughtful, like volunteering, helping out at a school etc. Plus their two children have both got engaged this year.
I do really like them though so I like to hear about what they’re up to.

I think RR are quite a middle class activity. I'd never heard of them until I met my husband. The first time he mentioned a Round Robin I thought he was talking gibberish; it wasn't until I joined MN that I realised this was an actual term rather than some word he'd made up. I reckon there's got to be a crossover between RR and Jaqueline Lawson e-cards. I appeals to the same subset, I suspect.

I’ve had a change of heart this year. I used to cringe at round robin letters and used to chortle along when Simon Hoggart on the radio decried them, but this year I welcome them. As someone’s already said, they represent a bit of human contact at a time when it’s in short supply. I even sent one myself.

Awww I'd actually love to get a weird letter about gardening from a dog! I don't like the show off ones (' it's been a bit of a tough year as we decided to completely extend our house over two floors and extend the loft, all this while researching which high end jaguar would fit all the grandkids in what were we thinking?') but if people want to give me a genuine glimpse into their lives that's nice.

Oh I would love to get a batshit crazy round robin !

My older family members do them. No idea how they've done them this year when most people can just say "I stayed in and got Amazon to deliver me stuff"

I suspect it's a middle class thing too (which we are definitely not). We got a Christmas card for a former owner of the house with one in this year - it was opened by accident (in a pile with other cards to open) - but it wasn't even the owner we bought the house off. It was the one before that, so those people haven't lived here for at least 4 years.

Who sends a letter detailing the year to someone who hasn't seen fit to let them know they moved house 4 years ago?? I mean, I get that if they haven't told them, they don't know they've moved, but if they haven't told them, they clearly didn't think they were close enough to let them know, which brings me back to - why?!?

I suspect it's because I struggle with social interactions and niceties, because I don't need to hear about holidays and things people who I don't speak to from one year to the next five are doing.

I also think it's just never been a thing in my life - as I say, decidedly working class, and we're just not a boastful family as a rule.