A friend doesn't like to talk about her son's good luck in landing a career job--even before he donned cap and gown and got his college diploma. None of her friends college grads have had the same good fortune--those who are working are in non-career, just=-barely-earn-your-keep jobs.
The same pressure is on kids. A friend reports that on the eve of her college graduation her daughter had two job offers. She wasn't sure which to take but couldn't discuss the options with her peers. "She can't talk to friends because they aren't getting jobs," the mother reports. "It's very stressful all around. She didn't even tell her roommate."
These days, bragging rights are not something to brag about.