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Home
and Family
Applause
by Rosally Saltsman
I don't know where the tradition of giving applause started
but it's interesting how applause is used today. There are
basically three venues where you'll hear applause: at a play
or show, at the end of a lecture or at a touchdown (plane,
not football). It's noteworthy that the three professions
that merit applause are airline pilots, actors/musicians and
speakers. No one applauds a doctor when he's completed a
lifesaving operation or a teacher after she's imparted an
inspiring lesson to 30 or 40 impressionable young minds.
Teachers sometimes merit applause but usually in absentia, as
in, "Attention children, your teacher is not coming in
today." Wild cheers!
Though certainly a good performance and a good speech and a
safe landing all deserve our appreciation, wouldn't it be
nice if after the cashier rang up our purchases, we gave her
a hand; if after our babysitter tells us that our little
angels are sound asleep, we applauded her efforts; if before
we got off the bus, we gave the bus driver a standing ovation
since we're usually already standing, anyway?
Wouldn't it be nice if we just showed more appreciation to
the people who do for us, serve us, inspire us in general?
Wouldn't it be pleasant if spouses, children and parents
showed their gratitude more than perfunctorily to the people
who mean most to them in the world? After all, aren't they
the ones who give the stellar performances?
And doesn't everybody need a hand?
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