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?
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?
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!!!!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
We might have had a chance, except she then grabbed her personal bag and rushed to the front of the plane as we were pulling into the gate, taking up precious space as others attempted to empty the overhead bins.
That's when I knew her penis was even smaller than mine.
After closing three posts in a row where I wanted to call bullshit and insult stupid opinions (which wouldn't have helped anyway), this one made me laugh. Thank you! I needed something to kick-start a good mood before I start my day.
Also, fuck clappers. Especially at movie theaters. None of the people who worked on the movie can hear you.