There’s humblebragging, and then there’s this: Josh Romney, the song of presidential contender Mitt Romney, tweeted Friday that he pulled four people from a car crash.
“Was first on scene to big accident, see pic of car in the house. I lifted 4 people out to safety. All ok. Thankful,” he tweeted, with a picture of himself and the car.
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It’s always tough to tweet about your accomplishments without looking conceited, which was why the #humblebrag tag was invented. It didn’t solve the problem, of course, because it quickly came to mean “I’m bragging while acting like it’s OK to brag as long as I acknowledge it’s bragging.”
The bigger the accomplishment, the harder it is to brag about it successfully. So here’s what Josh Romney did wrong and right.
Right: Saved four people from a car crash.
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Wrong: Posed with the car. That’s weird.
Right: Mentioned his rescue of the four people in an offhand way in his second sentence. Said they were all okay. That shows caring.
Wrong: Included the word “I.” People would have gotten his message if he’d skipped the “I,” like he did in his first sentence.
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Right: Mentioned “thankful.” This was the best move of all: He tied it to Thanksgiving and the bigger picture, making it not all about Josh. Good job.
Wrong: This probably would have gotten out even if he hadn’t tweeted it. Doesn’t his dad know a couple of people who are good at tipping off reporters to things?
Right: Provided no details of when and where exactly this happened (“the house?” What house?), so it becomes the stuff of legend.
All in all, great job on the car rescue, so-so job on the tweeting. We understand you were probably in an adrenaline rush after all the Superman business, so it’s all good.
Also, anyone who writes “Maybe Josh Romney should run for office after this!” is a toadying goof.