h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Firstly Happy St Georges Day and a happy may or may not be your birthday to Mr Shakespeare!
I am proud to call myself an Englishman, I’m also proud of my Irish, Viking, and Celtic roots, however, we as a mongrel race fall way behind the other melting pots of the world when it comes to one thing: admitting we’re actually quite good at something. Modesty is one thing “In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility”, but do we have to be so all the time?
I was called ‘wretchedly humble’ the other day when I laughed off a compliment about a piece of writing. A piece I was quite pleased with too, so why the modest stillness and humility? What stops us accepting a compliment and admitting our successes?
One only has to look at sporting events, winners from everywhere else are eager to tell the pundits how fantastic they are or pose for adoring crowds, one finger raised to admit ‘Yes, look at me I am the best!’
English champions however tend to state any victory was all down to the team, the backroom boys and girls, lady luck or just that the other side were having a particularly bad day.
‘Good job’, ‘Way to go’ and ‘Good on ya mate’ are shunned by the English, we prefer ‘Lucky sod’, ’spawny git’ or simply an awkward silence and profuse blushing whilst we shuffle to the back of a crowd hoping the ground will swallow us up.
Maybe it’s down to a national shame that we once had a vast empire built on thievery and slavery and we don’t like to draw too much attention to our links with the green and pleasant land? Maybe we’ve been watered down so much since Churchill’s days we’ve forgotten our true national identity, what other nation can let its neighbours have their own parliaments and national assemblies, but not possess one of their own? Even our national flag can’t be waved nowadays without worries about links to the far right.
Maybe it is time to “show us here the mettle of your pasture. Let us swear that you are worthy of your breeding, which I doubt not”?
So Happy 23rd and to Elektragheorgheni, thank you very much, it is a good piece! (even for an Englishman!)

And, no, I can't remember what I was referring to back then!

"What stops us accepting a compliment and admitting our successes?"

I find that I too react with modesty, even though I'm dying for a compliment.

And yet, as societies, the UK and USA often think that we have something we'd like the rest of the world to emulate.