UKC

Im interested in what exactly this British (for it seems to be very much a British thing) desire for clapping serves?
Why are the Brits so obsessed with it? Why don't other nations collect on their doorsteps and clap for various causes?

Genuinely interested in what exactly drives this new national obsession...

I thought in the case of clapping healthcare workers etc it was something that we copied from Italy and Spain.

Wikipedia seems to agree, in Britain it was championed by a Dutch woman living in London, copying what was happening in Europe. She walked away from it when she felt the government politicised it.

I didn't know that.... but im assuming they did it once or twice and then stopped whilst for the Brits it seemed to become a bit of a olympic sport :-0

There was 8pm clapping here in Peru every night for the 3 month strict lockdown we had last year, accompanied by various divisions of the police force driving in convoy through the streets with the lights and sirens on. 

We do it in the US. It didn't last long but over the summer all the old ladies would go out on the balconies and bang their pans and clap in support of the emergency services.

Didn't originate here. Wasn't started here by a Brit. Occurred all over the World. Was a bigger deal in other parts of the World and hardly anyone thought it a good idea to revive it a second time round so it didn't happen.

So no it's not a British thing and its not a National obsession.

it may not be a British thing....but it does seem a bit of an obsession

in support of what exactly? the emergency services?

ps I really cant imagine it here in Vietnam....haha
So *not* an asian thing to do

I imagine this is how the clapping in North Korea started. Then it'll be publicly cry for the NHS or you're off to the forced labour camps.

Certainly seems to be an obsession with you

Edit: https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/off_belay/the_clap_is_back-729737?v=1#x93...

Should we be expecting you starting a thread on this topic every 4 weeks from now on then?

not an obsession, just interested in the psychology behind it all as it has reared up again.
Any ideas?

Yeah don't be obsessive .  You got your anwser

Here's my theory. The government told us to clap last year. It's a subtle way of establishing control over the population. We all get implanted with microchips as we eagerly get 'vaccinated'. Result: a nation of compliant zombies forever enslaved. You wouldn't believe such a useless shower of sh1ts could be so cunning would you?

It seems fair enough to ask, to me. 

It's a 'thing' used by the politicians in charge to try and help national mood during current times, cynics might say it's a way of keeping people cheerier and less liable to be critical as well, 'Clap the heroes, rather than question how we're handling things too closely'.

I don't know if I'm as cynical as that, but it's a perspective which likely exists, they might not see their own miss-steps so acutely. and just see it as 'something to help national mood'... 

Think you nailed it with the last sentence. It's a distraction from the utter shitshow of government we've been treated to for the last 18 months. 

It's not just a Covid thing remember, we've been doing a minute or two applause at football matches for years. It seems fitting there, as a nice tribute and less sombre than silence. 

I think it's nice to see patients who have fought through intubation and made it out the other end to be applauded by hospital staff on being discharged. 

I don't like the idea of clapping for key workers when we've collectively shat on them for a decade. Seems a total pisstake when we've chronically underfunded the public sector and largely contributed to their difficulties with our own selfishness. 

They're making lots of noise in Myanmar too at the moment.

When we've created the need for those heroes in the first place!

Periodically, with a judgemental and belittling tone, when it's already been answered clearly? 

First time I became aware of clapping for anything other than school prize giving, etc, was seeing Princess Diana's funeral on the news. As the cortege made its way through London, part of the crowd started clapping instead of standing in silence. It really confused the commentators and even more so when they were seen throwing flowers.

It was later explained as being the action of mourners who had come from 'overseas'.

I can't stand the clapping. If it makes someone feel better, fine, that's their choice but I don't feel the need to show my appreciation publicly.

On my street it seemed to become a form of one upmanship to show you cared more than others. Where does it end and what does it say if you suddenly stop clapping? Much happier to play my part by paying my taxes and donating to charities of my choice without a fanfare.

I see it as native and none native UK people are at equal liberty to be judgemental and belittling of what happens here, I used to like the French lady Sandrine's perspective on some aspects of life in the UK. 

Next time he starts a thread about it I might not click on it, but he's not the only forum member to keep raising the same topics.

I wouldn't be comfortable with the forums becoming a place where none UK people couldn't be critical of the UK on living here, 'because they're not from here', as it were, I don't think that would be positive...

Won't we eventually run out of things to moan about?

Count the number of times, climbing during Covid, TPS, Brexit, Israel, Treadmills, have come up.

Are you sure you're not reading it that way? The, judgemental and belittling tone, part.

It's just the tory's take of The Walking Dead's "look at the flowers"

There is a reason for that, you can protest* a silence by making a noise. Protesting a clap is more difficult.

* Protest might be a generous term for someone being a dick, but especially in the very partisan environment of a football stadium just before kick off, it was an issue.

I understand Vietnam has handled the pandemic rather better, and your health service hadn't been running at barely sub-critical level for the last ten months.

So maybe no need to 'clap for normality'...?

And yes, this is exactly why the government encourage it.

My sister and cousin are NHS front line. I didn't clap once. They dont need me to clap to know they have my support.

Would you be entirely comfortable with a UK resident repeatedly starting threads on a Vietnamese forum along the lines of "What's the Vietnamese obsession with eating dogs? You seem to have raised it to an Olympic sport over there!"

The Vietnamese are no more obsessed with eating dogs than we are with clapping. Though dog was prominently displayed on the menus of Ho Chi Minh city's pho restaurants when I was there.

Yes, thanks, I am quite sure.

Are you, wrt my question? 

I can only honestly speak about being a UK citizen and people from overseas talking about what happens here, and I'd rather people didn't get shut down 'because they're not from here'.

It's a matter of supposition not always following reality, compared to being able to talk about what is currently the case...

My question to you had nothing to do with the OP’s nationality or place of residence, I didn’t imply that they should be shut down, and I haven’t singled them out for repeatedly asking the same things. 

The OP claims to be genuinely interested in the psychology. When I am interested in psychological drivers, I make the effort to pose my questions without bias. 

I'm asking you as a UK citizen. Simple enough question

Edit: and shut down? You mean told he was talking bollocks? Nothing to do with where he lived. He was told he was talking bollocks because he was talking bollocks.

I'm being straight forward with you, I like to think it's 'tolerantly British' to be able to accept people from overseas coming here and being critical or judgemental, because sometimes they can have a point.

That's my answer for you.   I don't care what he says about the UK or clapping. 

Yeah, but it's not an answer, it's a side step because people that like to think of themselves as fair minded don't like their double standards being pointed out to them

no more posts from me on this thread. 

I've experienced more passengers-clapping-for-a-plane-having-landed in the US than the UK/EU 

In spring it was a pretty good way of building community, fostering the solidarity required in order that we would individually comply with severe unenforced restrictions for the common good. 

The current round  (did anyone but Johnson clap?) is deflection, an attempt to turn what could be a real threat to the government (death of a national treasure with hospital acquired covid) into a little reflected glory.

They have haven't they?

Strange times and or cynicism.

jk

Youch everyone, why so angry today?  It's not often Timm"MrEmpathy"D gets a kicking for asking everyone to be a bit more tolerant.

I know, why don't we all try and focus a little on being compassionate in these hard times.  Perhaps we could have some sort of community event to allow us to do this?  Perhaps a clap?  See you 8.00 p.m. your doorstep!

I think Kimino is British.

I put a smiley face on it Mr Bobling, what's the f*cking issue? You want some too do yer!

OH!  You want to go then do you?  COME ON YOU SLAAAAG

: )

Perhaps it’s time for UKC fight club?

first rule of UKC fight club: you don’t talk about vitamin D

second rule of UKC fight club: you don’t talk about dislike buttons

etc, etc, etc

Probably not.

The Burmese have apparently all been banging pots and pans for the last three days... They must secretly be British, I guess...

We clapped every day at 8 pm during the full lockdown (march-may) here in Spain. It stooped spontaneously on the day the bars re-opened, mainly because 8 pm is when everyone has a pre-dinner drink at a bar.

Having lived in the UK, Germany and Spain, I have definitely noticed that Brits tends to take gestures such as this a bit further than the other two countries. In that respect, it's similar to doing challenges for charity. It's a bit of a British thing. And I am not saying that this a bad.  

I commented on this last year. Pots and pans banging is a protest gesture dating back a long way when the whole village would assemble with pots etc to hound some disreputable person from the community. We've seen people doing it on the news and got it mixed up with the Italian clapping/singing gesture to thank their health workers.

Being a bit of a pedant it grates with me that they've mixed up the message. It's like blowing a raspberry to express your gratitude. 

I agree that if people really want to say thank you then they should vote for a party that is clear about how it will protect and grow a national health service properly funded by income tax. Oh, and nothing says "thank you" quite so well as a pay rise. 

It's also a traditional way of heralding in New Year in many parts of the UK.

Fair play, I didn't know that. Thanks 

Sounds familiar. 

There are a few tw*ts on my street who week after week tried to escalate from clapping to banging pots, sounding trumpets and playing music. There is a street whatsapp group and someone politely asked if these folk could not be so noisy as it was waking her kids up and she was instantly rounded on by these tw*ts for 'not supporting the NHS'. Thankfully sanity prevailed and everyone else chimed in to say that smashing pots for 10 mins is a bit stupid. 

thanks for another in a long line of UKC posts (from multiple posters) that make me feel grateful that I have very few neighbours and they aren’t awful 😃

Probably a Boeing 737-Max in the US.