At least the airplane clapping could be seen as cheering on the pilot for doing a good job. Much worse, imo, is the movie theater clapper. Those actors, directors and crew can’t hear your claps. They mean nothing!
As a teen most of my summer hollidays were spent visting abuela and abuelo in spain. Cinema (double features) were around 100 Pesetas (compared to Euro, w/o inflation 50 Cents(!). As you can imagine I saw every movie (rated or not).
First time was a culture shock (compared to the mostly silent German cinema audience), as they not only clapped, they also cheered or booed at any time the hero or villain did something heroesque/villainous.
But I grew into it and am missing it really. I wish this would be a thing everywhere.
Edit: I want to add that I’m an ancient person and ask any Spaniards: Is this still a thing?
That sounds incredibly fun as long as you’re expecting it
I mean, it’s just a logic thing to do. At least we all laugh together, watching a funny scene. Why limit it to this one emotion?
At least laughing is usually involuntary.
Not for the movies I’ve been to see here in Catalunya … in Andalucía anything could happen!
Cinemas in Catalunya you say? That reminds me of the day in Barcelona where I went into one, not noticing it was more something like a gay porno cinema. Went there to watch Freddys Final in 3D.
Odd! I thought, when the lobby was filled with a bunch of guys, that didn’t go as a group.
Sympathic spaniards! I thought as most of them started to talk to each others, while they seem they didn’t know eachother.
Oh the nice spanish soul! As the bartender winked at me, as I ordered my coke, wishing me fun.
DAMN! I finally noticed where I actually was, as the persons that sat right next to me started to rub one out while Freddy was in the midst of some good old teenager killing.
And yes, I didn’t notice any cheering, besides of other noises.
Yo I went to Spain for a band trip and when we performed they would applaud after for so long it was legitimately uncomfortable.
You realize clapping is mainly a social thing right?
I watched Star Wars ep 3 in theaters and the entire audience would erupt whenever Yoda did something badass.
It honestly made the whole experience that much more memorable because everyone around you is equally hyped up and enjoying the show.
How is it any different than laughing at a comedy show? Should everyone not laugh when something that’s meant to be laughed at happens? Should no one cry during emotional scenes?
This guy would’ve hated watching Avengers movies in India. Whooping, clapping, cheering, whistling… It was fantastic.
Who are they clapping for? You laugh and clap at a comedy show because the talent is right there
I went to the movies once and the director was there and did a Q&A and my anxiety made me feel like we as a theatre didn’t clap enough. We don’t often have the director or any celebrities where I live, so nobody knew the protocol.
I went to see an early screening of documentary called Best Worst Movie about the making of Troll 2. The actor who played the dad was there and the crowd went NUTS when he walked out on stage with the director afterward. I even got a picture with him, it was great!
Yeah, that is definitely different and really cool!
I would go to way more of those if they happened near me!
We get Hallmark movies filmed where I live, so it is fun to try and recognize all the spots. One time it was my neighborhood coffee shop which was neat. I wish those directors would show the movies here and do Q&A, but they probably wouldn’t appreciate me passing out my Hallmark movie bingo cards at the screening.
If a famous person requires a different protocol… they’re not good enough to be respected as a normal person.
A position itself should NEVER be respected simply for being there unless you are a subordinate in the military. Even then, it is legal and encouraged to disobey direct orders that are illegal.
You don’t need anxiety simply because there’s a rich fuck in the room. Stop twisting yourself for others you don’t even know.
It was an independent film that was quite good, and it was the director’s first feature length film. They were super nice and not snooty or anything.
It’s very uncommon for that kind of thing to happen where I live is all. I’ve never seen people clap at the movies otherwise (Rocky Horror doesn’t count!).
I interpreted their comment to mean the creators were present during the showing of their creation, which is unusual in that user’s community. I don’t think their anxiety is related to the person’s fame or wealth, but I could be wrong.
Everybody clapped at the end of The Incredibles and we were not ashamed
The lack of appropriate shame is exactly the point.
What is the shame though? People are expressing their joy. Hearing other people clap means they also share your joy. It is a lovely sense of community.
Shaming them is not community.
What a joyless miser you are.
They mean something to me. I’ll even clap at home, alone, too. I’ll even occasionally laugh when I’m alone. Feels good.
What why are laughing when nobody hears you!!! Who are you laughing for. You Know nobody hears you laugh it’s not like the people that made you laugh can hear it!!!
/s
I only clap in the movie theater when the guy who thinks he’s getting a discrete hand job finally cums.
In Los Angeles there’s a pretty good chance someone who had something to do with making that movie is in the audience. Or there’s at least a relative or friends, who will relay the positive response. In certain other countries there’s probably some CGI person who appears in tiny print after the mid-credits teaser scene. They are more likely to get a kick from applause than the director, too, since they don’t parade around the talk-show circuit. I’m not saying it should be expected, but if people are really delighted, they should go ahead and express it. Joy harms no one.
Why do people care this much about completely harmless and inconsequential things other people do? I’ve personally never given a shit when someone else claps when a plane lands, same with people clapping in movie theatres. The world is miserable enough, let people enjoy the little things, it’s not like they’re forcing you to clap with them.
What I’ve never understood- it doesn’t bother me but I’ve never understood it- is people who clap after a movie. I don’t mean people at the premiere where the filmmakers and actors are, I mean people in some town in Wisconsin or whatever. It’s weird.
It’s for the projectionist, and it’s probably outdated these days. But until digital film distribution became common it was actually a fairly involved job.
Edit: and if you go back to the silent film era the scores used to be played live. So maybe it’s even a holdover from that.
Interesting theory but if it was clapping for the protectionist then they’d do it at the end of every movie that was well-projected, not just the movies they thought were great.
I feel it’s more a habit carried over from live theater and music performances. They’re happy and just instinctively clap even if it’s pointless as a gesture towards the production. It just an expression of enjoyment they’ve developed sitting in a theater.
Precisely because they are harmless and inconsequential. Complaining about things like this or pineapple on pizza are just meme complaints. Nobody cares that much about it in reality.
No, but they are forcing you to listen to the noise they make.
Making unnecessary noise is inconsiderate to those around you.
And yet when I rip out a real stinker on the plane, everyone hates me.
You only need to clap for the cheaper airline as they do need the encouragement.
I think it’s fair to do if the weather is really bad, storm, heavy rain and wind etc. Like a compliment.
I landed in HORRIBLE snow and wind once. We were landing almost sideways. You can bet your ass everyone clapped for that one
Can the pilots with headsets on behind the locked door hear the claps? It seems pointless to me. Just compliment them on the way off the plane.
Why would sharing a collective sigh of relief be a bad thing even if they can’t hear it?
I didn’t say it was bad, but that it seems pointless.
Can the pilots with headsets on behind the locked door hear the claps?
Yes. And yes it makes them feel a little better
It used to be standard in Latin America.
I like it, it’s a nice way to relieve the stress of everybody being within a couple of seconds of death if the pilot fucked up.
it’s a nice way to relieve the stress of everybody being within a couple of seconds of death if the pilot fucked up.
You know what else is a nice way to relieve stress? Low noise environments.
Latin America and “low noise”…
Yeah, Japan has ruined me for public transit in the US and elsewhere. Clapping on a plane would just make me annoyed unless the pilot did something phenomenal in a bad situation or the like.
It makes sense in a time without autopilot and the pilots actually had to fly the while time and sometimes really wrestle with the controls. Now it’s all automated so it’s not nearly as impressive.
I’m no expert, but I’m fairly certain takeoff and landing is still fully manual. Autopilot only happens once you hit cruise altitude where the risk of crashing is very very low.
Even if the autopilot didn’t help during landing, which it does, the pilot is still not nearly as tired as if they had to actually fly the whole time.
OK yes, pilots are waay overworked because of the limited number of them. That has nothing to do with actual flying
Edit: From your article - “Concern over pilot fatigue was one of the primary reasons that ALPA was created back in 1931, when operators regularly engaged in ‘pilot pushing,’ forcing pilots to fly long hours to maintain demanding schedules,” said Capt. Brian Noyes (United), chair of ALPA’s Flight Time/Duty Time Committee, which is responsible for educating ALPA pilots about the risks associated with fatigue and the regulations and safety programs currently in place to help mitigate those risks.
And as you look to her her hands are holding yours. Yet the clapping still continues.
You look around and realize that she’s dummy thick and her cheeks are clapping. All is good.
Seems fine, just tell her to put her shoes and socks back on and to not forget her book from the seat pocket in front of the person beside her.
Devastating, but it’s the right thing to do
I clap when the bus driver makes it to my stop
I do thank them when I leave the bus. I guess that’s sorta dumb but at least they’re right there to hear it.
It’s not dumb.
I mean dumb in that it might not be “logical”. It just feels like the nice thing to do, in a way clapping on an airplane doesn’t.
It is the nice thing to do, treating the person like a person. Keep it up. Sure, it’s their job, they’d do it if you weren’t there, but it was helpful to you.
It’s the done thing.
Wait - is this an American thing now?
I ask as I’m American but have lived overseas for 25+ years. Europeans don’t clap. The two of us travel through different parts of Asia to see friends and family - no clapping on Asian flights either. Just grab your bag and exit asap.
This seems very weird.
Am American:
I cheer loudly like my team just won.
Then i go “USA USA USA”, as I excitingly high five everyone around me. Then we pull out our AR-15s, shoot through the roof of the airplane, and thank Jesus that we again beat Science and flew through the heavens the way god intended.
No. It’s a fuckin weirdo thing.
Nah, it’s a “first time flying and there is a bunch of us and we’re so grateful the pilot didn t kill us all” kind of thing.
Was on a flight this summer with some seriously unstable wind that made the landing a bit more impressive than usual and many people clapped. Return landing was smooth as fuck and sure enough, everybody was gangsta, then.Yeah the two times I was on a plane where people clapped it was because of less than great weather (like the runway being in a quarter inch thick ice sheet) and the other because air traffic control fucked up and told the pilot he was clear to land when a 737 was right below us landing already.
To be honest, both times I think I agree clapping was ok.
If you land in fine weather and no near miss, and still clap? That’s a red flag
Why? What does it indicate about a person that warns you away?
It indicates they’re a psychopath and they will murder me in my sleep
It’s more like thanking your waiter at the end of dinner.
I’d love to tip people with claps.
Let’s normalize clap tipping.
I flew a lot for work. Some airlines, like Southwest, are targeted at vacationers and you’re more likely to get clappers. I flew a lot of United, and the only clapping I heard was when we landed in some real rough weather. I’m convinced with the approach the pilot took that they were a naval aviator before they went commercial.
Europeans don’t clap
Italians do
I don’t want to be mean if I say “Europeans” are a whole bunch of different nations and cultures. Yeah, some clap.
Those that were later to discover flight. Italians and Portugese
Hm. Never flown to either, but (speaking of Europe only) to Spain, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Germany, Poland and the UK (whether they want to be considered Europe or not) I’ve never seen that. Italy comes next year - we’ll brace ourselves for applause.
Clapping was very common some 30 years ago. As in the whole plane did it at any destinations I went to, and it was weird to hold back. It gradually disappeared and now it’s the other way around. But in the end - who cares either way?
No, though there are the movie theater clapping weirdos.
No I’ve literally never have heard of this
Am European (Spanish) and there definitely are clappers here. Not in every flight, but there are clappers.
On Asian flights, the sound of clapping is replaced by the sound of the entire plane unbuckling their seatbelts and getting up to jockey for position to exit before the plane even touches down.
I think it depends entirely on the length of the flight, and whether or not there is any turbulence. You fly to Hawaii, and everyone is happy to be there. You take a commuter hop from BWI to Atlanta, and nobody says a fucking peep. Newark to London, meh. Chicago to Athens, woo hoo.
Idk, this clapper discussion seems to me like: Why be nice and say thank you when you can just mind your own business? Going out of your way to be nice does make a difference.
Any pilots or flight crew here want to chime in?
Would a round of applause on landing brighten your day, or be tiresome and embarrassing?
My high-school friend is a pilot. He likes it. That’s just one of them, of course.
Take this bullshit back to Reddit!
I regularly deal with antique aircraft pilots. Those temperamental old planes, you clap when they land those planes.
The pilots are antique?
That would sure make me clap. “You didn’t die behind the stick between takeoff and landing! Hooray!”
If she is my soulmate that would not happen
Puerto Rican here - this is unavoidable when flying to or from the island (although it’s not as loud as it used to be). It’s charming after the 100th time, even.
I once flew to San Juan, and no one clapped. Now I feel like I missed out.
What’s wrong with clapping when the airplane land? I miss that when it was the norm when I was a kid
deleted by creator
Flying, despite all its drawbacks, is still one of humanity’s greatest achievements and has transformed our society to such an extent that most people today can’t even imagine what it’s like to travel long distances before the rise of commercial aviation. A trip across the ocean which once took weeks or months with a very high chance of a horrific death now takes at most 12 hours and is the safest mode of transport. If that doesn’t warrant applause I don’t know what does.
deleted by creator
So if you go to a concert or a play do you not clap? The pilots did something most people can’t. They’re not clapping at the plane they’re applauding the pilots.
deleted by creator
One is a Performance
Which is also a job and expected of them? And flying a plane is definitely way harder than putting on a show, for potentially quite a bit less pay depending on the performance.
Regardless, no one is saying you have to clap. So why do you care what other people do? You not only think it’s wrong for you to thank someone for doing their job, but you think it’s wrong for other people to do so? Why?
deleted by creator
Why, I’m glad not to die in an accident even when I trust the ones in control from the very beginning.
deleted by creator
It’s a thank you.
deleted by creator
It’s a way to say thank you when there’s many people thanking one person. Just like in theatre, at a concert. I know it from guided tours as well.
deleted by creator
It’s a question of custom. But it’s a nice custom that says thanks, so I don’t understand why so many people are averse to it. I think it would be nice to applaud a bus driver. It’s just not usually done. I happen to get applauded occasionally both at work and during my hobby and I love when it happens!
deleted by creator
do you ever have fun?
deleted by creator
Honesty half the time I just wish the plane crashed during landing and mofos clapping at my misery is just rubbing salt in the wound 😭😭
Buddy, are you okay?
Do you clap at every bus stop, too? That’s their damn job.
I definitely say thank you when getting off the bus.
It’s honestly really sad that so many people think people doing a job is somehow not only undeserving of gratitude, but will judge other people for expressing gratitude.
Thanking and clapping are rather different.
Generally, the pilot is in the cockpit and can’t hear you thanking them when you’ve landed. But they can hear clapping.
No but I clap at performances where it’s their job.
If my bus ride is 14 hours in one direction, you’re damn right I’m clapping. Though it’s not entirely for the pilot, it’s for being allowed to move freely again.
Yeah I can get away from that screaming infant now.
I do thank the bus driver when I get out
If he’s tried to palm off some foreign coin on me though in my change, he’s not getting a thank you, he needs to learn his lesson.
Ha, you guys still pay in cash? We can check in with our debitcard here in the Netherlands
For some reason to get really pissy if you try and pay by card. Mostly because they don’t want to put the money into actually pay for the infrastructure necessary to support card transactions.
The barely ever wash the buses
I mean, I would if the bus was up a few miles above the road for a couple of hours and landed safely.